


Lola

by asilverflame



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Addiction, Alternate Universe - Underfell (Undertale), Blind Character, F/M, Prostitution, Shooting Guns, Slavery, Underage Sex, Underfell Grillby (Undertale), Underfell Papyrus (Undertale), Underfell Sans (Undertale), Underfell W. D. Gaster
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-05
Updated: 2019-11-06
Packaged: 2020-06-16 15:50:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 25,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19654570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asilverflame/pseuds/asilverflame
Summary: Read below for summary. Chapter one comes straight from me to you the readers.





	1. Explanations and Warnings.

I don't know why I do this to myself.

I been pretty happy writing Candle when the idea for this fic came about.

Suffice to say this was inspired by a picture I had seen at my day job.

To the readers of Candle and Radio, my deepest apologies. Sometimes when I get inspired to write, I get derailed from what I may be working on. The muse can be fickle so when it bugs me to write this and not that I tend to listen. It helps to keep ideas fresh.

OK apologies over. Now listen. 

This, for the most part, is unlike anything you have seen me write. 

Similarities

1\. It's a Grillby/oc fic. I just love that guy. Grillby is easily writeable because he aside from owning a bar in Snowdin, he is pretty much a blank canvas that I can write whatever I choose to about him.

2\. This is going to be going from the present to the past in a fashion similar to The Crown and the Glory mini-fic I wrote that is in The Teacher one shots.

That's all. 

Now THE WARNINGS:

1\. This an Underfell timeline where Undertale characters are in their Underfell forms.

2\. In this timeline human slavery is legal in Fell City.

3\. I put in tags for underage sex, but in my story adulthood is given upon sexual maturity rather than a set age of 18. For the main character that was 16.

4\. Monsters live mostly in Fell City but there are a few in Ebott City.

5\. No Frisk.

SO. If for any reason you don't like any of the above Skip Over this fic. This is your only warning to be mindful of the tags. Comments are going to be moderated but if you have constructive criticism or just want to say something nice, please comment. I like comments.


	2. Strong Arms

A knock on the door woke Lola up on her twenty first birthday. She groaned from her bed. Even on her birthday, couriers came with work for that day. Dammit, she had hoped that there would be no work for her on that day. She got up and put on her satin robe. 

Lola sauntered to her front door and opened it. There was a purple monster kid with a skateboard that acted as courier from the phone messenger service she employed with a small box. She smiled at the kid and asked him to wait while she got him his tip for his time. This kid came frequently since Lola tended to tip him well, as he sent the cash to his family back in Fell City. She quickly went to her wallet and pulled out twenty. 

“Don’t spend all this in one place, Skates.” Lola jokingly said to the messenger boy.

The kid smiled at Lola. Skates knew that she knew he was sending this to help his mother and brother out. Twenty bucks was at least two meals for the two of them.

“Got a verbal for ya as well, Lo. HE said to tell ya you need to be in Fell City on the thirtieth for the registrars.”

Lola sighed. “Tell him I’ll be at the bar the night of the twenty ninth. We can go then. Have him give you an extra five gold.”

“He already did,” Skates answered and smiled at Lola. At that Skates turned on his heel, whistling a jaunty tune.

Lola closed the front door with the small box from the messenger service. She walked to the kitchen and sat in a chair at a glass table. She opened the box. It had been wrapped in brown paper. The kind of paper you still sometimes got in grocery stores. After she tore off the wrapping, it revealed it was actually the case of a cassette tape. Lola couldn’t read. The phone service that took her messages recorded them on a blank tape and had the courier deliver that tape daily. On Saturdays Lola sent all the tapes back for reuse. 

Lola pulled out the cassette player that was on one end of her table and put the tape in it. She sighed as she hit play. It had better be worth her time or she would refuse the John. It was after all her birthday. Lola usually let her clients know she took the last week of May off. They didn’t need to know why, only it was her vacation time.

Lola pressed the play button. The voice coming from the player was a warm female voice. Mary could be trusted with her messages. Mary would never willing reveal that she transcribed messages for a harlot. Lola was nice. Sometimes a girl did what a girl had to do. Especially Lola.

“Lola, you have been offered five thousand dollars for not only tonight but the next two days. It is a single client, but he says he wants a female companion for those days. If you agree to this, he will have a car pick you up in front of Boudoir Boutique precisely at eight o’clock tonight. It’s the only call you received since last night. If this is agreeable to you, send a ten piece KFC to me. If it isn’t, send a Subway tuna melt. You know how I like my sandwiches. If I get KFC I will hold all your messages until Thursday. Later Lo!”

Lola turned off the cassette player, and stared out the window. Five thousand dollars was nothing to turn ones nose up at. It sounded like most of her time she would be arm candy for the John. Seemed simple enough. She would need to pack certain things. Beside at five thousand dollars it was worth not being hungover in the morning.

Lola got out her phone and called her local KFC. They knew Lola couldn’t read and would deliver what she wanted without question to the messenger service. They assumed that she was blind and thus wasn’t able to order from sites like DoorRush and PubGrub. Not one of them had ever seen Lola personally. Her account was marked as disability.

Having made and paid for the order, Lola got up from the table. It was only 10 am. She went back to sleep. Lola hoped that she would at least get flowers for her birthday.

It was five in the afternoon. No one had disturbed Lola once she went back to sleep. She got out of her bed and began to pack and prepare for the next three days. She pulled out a small suitcase and began to add things to it. Lola added a case that contained a variety of sex toys and vibrators. This might be simply companionship during the day, but she knew her client would want her full services at night when he was alone with her. Since Lola only took monster clients, she didn’t bother with condoms. Monsters didn’t carry the same life threatening diseases that humans did, nor was there risk of pregnancy, since monsters only bred with their SOULmates.

Lola also packed a variety of lingerie in various colors to please the tastes of her John. Sometime the Johns simply wanted to see her naked flesh. That was okay, too. Whatever suited them. That was what they paid for. She also packed both beautiful and sexy clothing for being in the public eye and a variety of shoes and hosiery.

After Lola packed, she stripped down to her flesh and studied herself closely in the mirror. Her hair was black and waist length with bangs. If you looked carefully it had an unnatural purple sheen of magic to it. Her eyes at one point been a deep brown, but were now the same unnatural purple color of her hair. Most people assumed she dyed her hair and wore contacts. Lola let them. Better to assume that than to know the truth. Her body itself had generous curves. She had to special order the right bras to accommodate her busty chest and otherwise small back. Her waist was slim going to her hips and backside which were also generous. Lola said she looked like a Goth Jessica Rabbit. When she wasn't working she generally wore baggy clothes, to get through her errands without being harassed or have some male attempt to get too friendly with her. 

Lola got in the shower and began to clean up. She had to look her best for tonight.

At seven-thirty she was fully dressed in a black silk suit and high heels. She was wearing a pair of square rimmed glasses that gave a bit of a severe look to her. That was fine. To regular people she looked like a bitch on wheels with an expressionless face. Normies would leave her alone. She walked to the elevator going down to the ground floor of her apartment building. She pressed the call button. When it arrived she rolled her suitcase into it and rode the elevator to the first floor. The doorman smiled at her and called a taxi for her. When the taxi came, the cabbie knew her well enough to nod at her. The doorman opened the door and helped her with her suitcase.

“Have a good evening Miss Coxop,” he said diffidently as she gave him a tip.

“Where to today, Lola?” asked the cab driver.

“Boudoir Boutique, please, Jim.”

“Going shopping?” Jim asked raising an eyebrow. He could guess what line of work she was in. Lola had that ultra professional look of someone whose work wasn’t legal. Regular people, even the lawyers and doctors, didn’t pick up on it. Taxi drivers and people who worked in shady businesses did, though. Most of the time Lola’s clients couldn’t pick up on it unless they were meeting her on the streets. Clients saw her as they wanted to see her at the start of an appointment. Sexy and willing and able make sexual fantasies come true. He was willing to bet that underneath that suit, she was dressed in a manner that could make strippers blush.

Lola smiled at Jim, but didn’t answer. Jim shrugged. It wasn’t really his business after all.

Jim drove Lola the five blocks it was to Boudoir Boutique. She paid him cash including his tip. He shook his head as she exited his car. He always wondered what could have happened to such a young girl to turn her into a call girl. Lola would never tell him that though. As Lola exited he caught the glint of a necklace. It was covered in some pretty expensive gems. Probably a gift from a regular client of hers.

Lola waited just outside of Boudoir Boutique for a car to arrive. When it did, it was a stretch limousine. An attendant jumped out of the front passenger seat and opened a door in the back.

“Ms Coxop?” he asked. “Let me help you with that.” The attendant picked up Lola’s suitcase and placed in into a trunk. “May I?” he asked as he touched her arm to escort into the back of the limo. Lola let him. He bowed to her as she got into the limo. “I have been asked to give you this,” he finished. He handed her an envelope.

Lola smiled at the attendant and gave him a tip. When she was comfortably seated she opened the envelope he handed her. There was a hotel keycard for the Crown Hotel and a cashiers check for her services in the amount of five thousand dollars. There was also a note in braille. Lola traced her finger on the thick paper.

The note read: Take the central elevator to the fifth floor. The key is for suite B.

Lola put the note and check into her purse. She put the keycard into a small pocket in the front of her suit jacket. She smiled as the limo went out towards her hotel. The Crown was the swankiest hotel in Ebott City. She wondered who could have the deep enough pockets for that hotel. Three nights was easily worth three times the amount she was being paid.

After a short five minute ride Lola arrived at the Crown hotel. Two uniformed bellhops rushed out to meet the limousine. One opened Lola’s door and the other went to the trunk to grab her suitcase.

“I have already been checked in. Suite B, please, gentlemen,” Lola instructed.

“Yes, ma'am,” they replied in unison. 

The bellhop with her suitcase put it on a luggage cart and began to walk with Lola towards the elevators. Lola tipped the bellhop who opened her door who nodded and would then wait for the next arrival.

The bellhop with her luggage escorted her to the central elevator. He called for the elevator as they waited. After a minute or so, the door opened to an elderly gentleman, who operated the elevator.

“Fifth floor,” said the bellhop.

The elevator operator smiled and pressed the button for the fifth floor. When they arrived at the right floor the bellhop said to Lola, “This way please.” He lead her down a few hallways to a door that was different from all he others.

The bellhop used his service keycard to open the door and said “Suite B, ma’am.”

Lola nodded as the bellhop pushed the luggage cart to the center of the room and put her bag down. Lola gave him a tip and he briskly left the hotel room to give her her privacy. As the bellhop left he dimmed the lights. Lola could not see much of anything in the dark. She stumbled and fell into a pair of strong arms that kept her from falling completely. The man holding her chuckled.

“Still falling for me after all these years?” The voice was dark and smoky.

Lola smiled. “What’s with the elaborate setup?”

“I wanted to be alone with you for a few days for your birthday. I figured if I paid you well enough and got an expensive room for us, you would come because the money was good enough.”

“I suppose you want the check back?”

“No. Consider this whole thing a birthday present from your husband.”

“I would have been satisfied with flowers,” Lola smile deepened. She had been afraid he forgot. Grillby never did though. Not since she was five. He steadied her onto her feet. She looked into the handsome purple fire elemental smiling down at her. Since he had taken her to wife five years ago he liked to surprise her. Grillby kissed her deeply. Lola melted into his arms as she always did. He broke off the embrace. 

“Go and get comfortable. There is no need to rush anything,” he whispered to her. If he had taken several days away from his businesses, then she was to be the absolute focus of his attention for that time. He would tolerate no disturbances to them. That was why he had gone to the lengths he did for Lola’s birthday. She was his SOULmate. It wasn’t right, in his opinion, to talk business when he wanted to be alone with Lola. It was a way of renewing their marriage bonds.

“Where is the bedroom?”

Grillby examined Lola carefully. Dammit, he thought, those glasses don’t help her much anymore. “I’ll guide you there.” was all he said. He picked up the suitcase she had brought with her, and tucked her right arm into his left. He kissed her hand as he guided her to the bedroom. He stopped. “There is a step here,” he murmured to Lola. Lola slowly stepped down to avoid falling. As he guided her to the bedroom he turned up the light in the room. Lola could see better in a bright room than a dim one.

Grillby showed Lola where the closet was and helped her unpack. He smirked at the sex toys and exotic lingerie she had brought with her. He was a simple man and thought Lola looked her best either naked or in much simpler lingerie. The next few days were mostly about her sexual pleasure and less about his. Her clients couldn’t give a damn if she got anything out of the trysts they paid her for.

Grillby did. It was a point of pride for him that only he knew what truly pleased Lola. As SOULmates, nothing pleasured them more than feeling their bodies and SOULS rub together sexually and climax into a sated pile of flesh. In a few months, when his magic peaked, they would breed. It would be the second time they would breed so. Lola had miscarried her first pregnancy after a sick joke caused her to fall hard on her belly. That had been hard on them both. Grillby had killed the servant who had played such a sick joke on Lola. Grillby made the point plain to the rest of his servants. 

Lola pulled out a black satin nightgown and robe. The satin would rub erotically on her skin and still leave nothing to Grill’s imagination. When they were alone, he liked seeing her dressed in this manner. Lola gave Grillby a striptease as she took off the severe suit and more exotic lingerie in favor of the nightgown. Grillby smirked at his wife. He loved her hourglass figure and the feel of her flesh on his. The simple garments gave him much easier access to her. Grillby went to Lola and began to kiss her. His hands went up the hem of the nightgown and began to stroke her flesh. This was how he liked her best. He pulled away from her reluctantly.

“Don’t go,” whispered Lola.

Grillby looked into her eyes and saw the plea in them. Lola had been waiting for him all day. She must have worried that he would not be there for her today. He smiled at Lola. Their need for each other was as strong as ever. He began to kiss her again, this time deepening his kiss. His hands began to stroke her as he pulled her against his clothed body. He began to respond to her need. He picked Lola up and placed her on the bed. It was still early in the evening. They could talk and eat after their initial needs had been sated. 

It was two hours later. Grillby had been surprised by not only Lola’s need for his body, but also the amount of magic she needed. She lay next to him riding the high of his magic and would continue to do so for at least another hour. Lo’s eyes were glazed over in a drugged manner. He grew angry again. Not at Lola. It wasn’t her fault that her owner before him had made her addicted to magic. She had been a child when that had happened. If he could kill Gaster, he would have. Gaster addicted Lola to magic to the point if she did not get a little bit every day, she would die. 

Grillby pulled her close to him and examined the necklace she wore. The necklace was more like a collar with diamonds and black opals that was supposed to give Lola the small amounts of magic she required daily to survive. Grillby frowned. It looked as though the collar was losing strength. They would have to replace it in a few days when they went to Fell City. He climbed out of the bed naked and went to the main room of the suite. Grillby first called for room service and ordered champagne for two as well as dinner for the two of them. He then got out his cell phone and called Red. Red knew the slave jeweler who created Lo’s current collar. The jeweler would know how create a new one for her. 

“I thought you didn’t want to be disturbed,” said Red when he picked up his phone.

“There is a small problem,” said Grillby.

“I’m listening.”

“Lo needs a new collar.”

“Did it break?”

“No, it’s not giving her the amount of magic she requires anymore.”

“That’s bad,” Red concurred. “Do you know if she still requires the SOUL healing it has given her?”

“I don’t. I don’t want to risk her SOUL if she does.”

Red was silent. “I can put off the registrar for another week while a new collar is made for her. Here is the catch though, Lola needs to be here in Fell City for a new slave collar. I know you hate doing this, but you need to assert a little of your control as her master. If the higher ups around here knew a slave of her class was running around on the surface more or less free, they would put us both up before Asgore. Bring her home. That’s all. Call me back when you are on your way.”

With that Red hung up. 

“Grill?” came a thick voice. 

Lola was fumbling in the dark to put on a robe.

“You should stay in bed,” Grillby admonished gently. “At least until the magic had faded some.”

“I heard voices,” she mumbled. Lola was using her hands to guide her in the dark. Her nearly blind eyes were useless in the dark. Her blindness was one of the side effects from her addiction to magic. It would not be long where she would not be able to see in either light or dark. It was another reason to force Lola to return home to Fell City. Her glasses looked like they were not that strong, when in fact they were as strong as was possible. 

“I had to speak to Red about a new collar for you,” said Grillby. He got up and walked back to the bedroom grabbing his own robe. He didn’t want to give room service an eyeful when they came with their dinner. 

“Why do I need a new collar?” asked Lola in a drugged confused way. Grillby guided Lola to a couch to sit down before she stumbled and fell. This room was unfamiliar to her. She didn’t know where to step without falling yet. Being almost totally blind she need things to be in certain places at all times.

“Your current collar is starting to fade. It needs to be replaced before we find out if your SOUL is as damaged as it had been when it was first placed on you,” said Grillby. Grillby gently pushed Lola to lie down. “We will talk more tomorrow. Right now rest. Dinner should be here soon along with some champagne.”


	3. Three Skeletons

After Grillby and Lola toasted Lola’s birthday and dined, Grillby once again seduced his wife ensuring she was thoroughly sated sexually. She had fallen asleep not long after they had finished making love. Grillby couldn’t sleep. He looked upon his wife affectionately as he remembered the very first time he had met her. 

One of the things that humans didn’t know about Fell City was that slavery was legal there. Slavery was hidden, but sales were still made on the black market. Lola had been born a slave. Taken from her human mother at six months of age. The babes of slaves were always taken away as infants as a way of both a way of controlling the slaves and as a way of relegating the slaves into different castes of slave society. 

Most slaves were given bare rudiments of education, then sold to buyers as laborers. At the age of four it was decided which caste of slave society a child belonged to. Beautiful or intelligent children were separated and given more education than worker caste slaves. At the age of ten they were further separated for different educations according to their assigned caste. 

Beautiful children joined the second highest caste of slave society and were taught deportment and refined manners to the age of fourteen. Intelligent children were educated in fields of science and mathematics and were part of the third highest caste of slave society. At the age of fourteen beautiful almost adults were educated in arts of sex and seduction. When they turned sixteen, they were considered ready to be sold as exotic pets to wealthy monsters. Many became lovers to their owners and often entertained their master’s guests sexually. They were spoiled and pampered by their owners the way humans spoil their cats or dogs. Frequently they were beloved members of the family that if they died would be grieved over the way humans grieve over their pets.

For intelligent children, when they turned fourteen, they were sold to professors and scientists to be trained and assist in their respected fields. They sometimes became the lovers of those scientists, but this was rare for the most part. They were not as educated in sexual matters as much as the higher caste was. 

Lola was a more rare and exotic slave than any of the castes normally dictated. She was as beautiful as any of the pet caste were, and was every bit as intelligent as the scientist caste dictated. This made for the fourth and highest of the slave castes. An alpha caste as it were. They tended to be sold at the age of five to owners who could teach them to their fullest capacity. Slaves such as Lola were prized by the richest monsters for both their keen minds and their beautiful bodies. They were taught the deportment and sexual arts of the pet caste as well as the scientific and philosophical arts of the educated caste. 

Lola had been sold at the age of five to W.D. Gaster. He was a high society skeleton who was the Royal Scientist. He could teach her how to use her keen intelligence as well the mannerisms of nobles. 

Grillby smiled. He remembered Lola at age five coming to his bar for the first time. She was dressed in a purple satin dress and her slave collar at the time was a special woven lace collar that would grow with her that had a large amethyst center set on it. Gaster had been called to an emergency meeting at the castle, and his brother Red had been recruited as her sitter. She was considered too young to attend such a meeting. 

Red had brought her to his bar and grill to feed her. She had never had a burger or fries before in her life at that point. Gaster thought that such food was beneath the two of them. Red mostly had just wanted his mustard as he fed the child assigned to him.

Lola had looked at the menu in puzzlement as she looked at the menu items.

“I can’t read this alphabet,” she confessed.

Grillby looked at Lola in surprise. “What alphabet do you read?” he asked. He could tell she was as highly intelligent as she was beautiful. For a child such as she, Gaster could be considered negligent if he didn’t teach her how to read. 

“I can show you some, I’m afraid I’m still learning how to write it.”

Grillby was intrigued. It must be a rare and difficult alphabet if it was hard to write. He handed Lola a sheet of paper and a pencil. 

Lola wrote out a word. When Grillby saw it, it became clear. Gaster was teaching her his alphabet first.

“Ahh. Wingdings. That makes sense, seeing that Gaster is your owner. I must confess I don’t know what you have written.”

“Pretty. I think your fires are pretty. Like a flower.”

Red had been watching the whole conversation. No one would ever call Grillby pretty to his face. He had once beaten to a pulp a monster who started to get overly flirty with him. He watched Grillby carefully, hoping he understood this was just a child and a girl at that. She didn’t know better. 

Grillby smiled at Lola. “Well, I am flattered you think so, child. Since you can’t read my menu, why don’t I choose your meal.”

Lola smiled and nodded at Grillby. Grillby shot a sharp look at Red that said it all.  
He knew she was a child and didn’t mean calling him pretty in an offensive way. The look also said that Lola was the only person who would ever be able to get away with it. 

Red nodded at Grillbz. They understood each other completely. Grillby disappeared in the back and a few moments later returned with a plate. He placed it in front of the child.

“What’s this?” she asked mystified.

“It’s a burger and fries. Try it. I guarantee you will like it.” replied Grillby.

Lola looked at the new foods in front of her. It smelled delicious. She picked up the fork and knife next to her and began to cut up and eat the burger and fries with dainty manners.

Red began to laugh loudly. His gold tooth glinted in the light.

Lola blushed and put down the fork and knife. Grillby slammed his fist on the counter and gave Red an ugly stare.

“Leave her alone, Red. Unless you want to be shown out the door forcefully.” growled Grillby, at the portly skeleton.

Red went still. Grillby was a ruthless fire elemental. He did not believe in idle threats.

“Keep eating, sweetheart,” Grillby reassured the child. “It’s nice to see someone with manners instead of eating like a pig.” Grillby shot a cold glare at Red as he finished his statement. 

Lola smiled. She picked the fork and knife and continued to eat the burger and fries.

“Would you like a cup of tea, sweetheart? I’m sorry for my bad manners, but someone forgot to introduce us properly.”

Lola looked at Grillby and smiled. “Yes, please. With honey and lemon, if you don’t mind?”

“Of course, child. Now, what’s your name, since Red hasn’t introduced us.”

“Lola. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Lola had put down her fork and knife and held her hand out in greeting to the fire elemental.

“I am Grillby, and the pleasure is all mine.” Grillby picked up Lola’s hand and kissed the top of it formally. It tickled Lola. She giggled. Grillby smiled at her. “Let me get you your tea,” letting go of her hand. Lola blushed faintly.

Grillby returned with Lola’s tea. She thanked him for it and quietly finished her meal, as Red drank his mustard.

Someone slammed the front door open. “SANS!! WHY DID YOU BRING THE HUMAN CHILD TO THIS… PLACE?!!” A tall skeleton marched right into Grillby’s. He had sharp teeth and claws like Red. His overcoat was long, black with spikes on the shoulders. 

“Well, Boss, G had an emergency meeting and the kid was hungry...”

“AND YOU COULDN’T THINK OF A BETTER PLACE TO EAT THAN THIS… GREASE TRAP??!!”

Lola was surprised by the sudden flash of heat Grillby gave off. He was getting angry and was getting darker in his rage. 

“GET… OUT… BOTH OF YOU!!” Grillby yelled. He pulled out a baseball bat from underneath the bar. 

Red looked shocked and left as Grillby ordered him to. The other skeleton looked outraged at the order and began to argue with Grillby.

Lola looked with fascination as purple fireballs began to circle Grillby. Grillby jumped over the bar and began to stalk the taller skeleton. Grillby rested the bat on his shoulder. The skeleton glared at Grillby and sauntered out the door. Grillby continued to follow him. The bar patrons as well as Lola crowded a window to see what happened next. The tall skeleton seemed like he was arguing with Grillby as Grillby began to launch fireballs after him using the baseball bat. The fireballs were put out in the snows of the town, but one landed on a wooden balcony. It began to burn with a purple fire. The tall skeleton squealed and ran to the house to put out the fire.

Grillby yelled something out to retreating skeleton and walked back into his bar. Lola returned to her seat and sat quietly. The other patrons murmured to themselves as Grillby went back behind his bar and put the baseball bat away. He was mumbling to himself.

“… should have known better… Can’t get along for five minutes… Should have kept Papyrus away...” Grillby continued to mumble to himself. 

Lola didn’t say anything and focused on her tea. She didn’t want him to direct his anger at her. Grillby wordlessly refilled her tea and got her a slice of sweet water sausage pie from the back. It wasn’t the child’s fault that Sans and Papyrus didn’t get along. He would talk to Gaster about making better emergency arrangements for Lola. When Sans and Papyrus fought, it got violent. She didn’t need to be near such violence so young. 

The front door opened again and an even taller skeleton that Papyrus walked in. he was dressed entirely in a black suit with a purple tie. His face had cracks that ran up and down his face. Lola stiffened in proper posture as soon as she had seen the skeleton. He sat down next to her. Grillby crossed his arms across his chest and looked at the tall skeleton wordlessly.

“Has she given you any trouble?” asked the tall skeleton.

“No. Lola has been a good child.”

“I’d like to order my usual,” said the skeleton.

Grillby nodded and went to the back to get the meal. He came back with a chicken dish in a creamy sauce. He placed the dish in front of the skeleton and poured him a glass of wine.

The skeleton began to eat. He used the same manners that he was teaching Lola to use. When he finished his meal he sipped delicately on his wine. 

“What started it?” was all he asked.

“Red and Lola were minding their own business when Papyrus came. He began to berate Red and had insulted my business. I kicked them both out at that point.” 

“And the fire on the balcony?”

“I used a bit of my magic when Papyrus wanted to argue with me. Lola shouldn’t be near them when they start to fight, so I kept her here.”

“I’ll have to speak to Papyrus. I told Red to bring Lola here if she got hungry.”

“That’s not good enough, Gaster. You know how Sans and Papyrus fight. Lola should not be anywhere near them when they go at it.”

Gaster reached into a breast pocket of his suit and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. He offered one to Grillby who accepted gracefully. Grillby lit his with a touch of his own fire and Gaster lit his with a lighter. They studied each other as they quietly smoked. Lola stayed silent. Both Gaster and Grillby could tell the child was getting tired.

“If I asked, would you mind watching her if I get stuck in another emergency?”

Grillby looked at Lola. She was a good girl. It would not be much trouble to feed her and let her observe the bar. She might learn a thing or two. He nodded at Gaster. At least he could keep the child away from Sans and Papyrus when they fought.

Gaster pulled out what appeared to be leash made out of lace from one of his pockets. He clipped it to Lola’s collar. 

Grillby knew it was a slave’s chain. Lola might be a beautiful child, but she was also the property of Gaster. She was a child and would follow him without question, but she still belonged to Gaster. The chain was to mark her as his property for her safety. The chain made it clear that if anyone hurt Lola they answered to Gaster.

“How much for mine and Lola’s meal?”

“Fifty.”

Gaster pulled out a coin worth a hundred gold pieces and placed it on the bar. Lola stood up. 

“For the meals and for watching Lola for me,” said the tall skeleton. 

Present Day

Grillby was asleep when Lola woke up the next day. His flames were licking her gently as he held her in sleep. There was not a day that went by that Lola was not grateful that she wore Grillby’s collar and not Gaster’s. Then again, she had been a pawn in Gaster’s scheme as much as Grillby had been. 

Both Grillby and Gaster had told her that they had been friends since they were school boys. It was pretty rare for monsters to be solely hetero or homosexual. But, that was how they were born. Grillby was heterosexual with no interest in other men besides as friends or acquaintances. Gaster was homosexual with no interest in women in a likewise fashion. Because of this Gaster held an unrequited love for the handsome Grillby since they were teens. Grillby was fond of Gaster as friends only and Gaster wanted Grillby as his lover. 

A lot of monsters, including Gaster’s brothers, had been surprised when he had bought a female alpha caste slave. It would not have shocked anyone if that slave had been a male. No one knew that Gaster had bought Lola as a bargaining chip in an attempt to seduce Grillby. Just his purchase of Lola should have been a warning of what would happen in the coming years.

At first she though he was simply delighted to have an apt pupil with which he could teach the wonders of his inventions and would understand them for what they were. After Lola’s first meeting of Grillby, Gaster began to change. He still treated Lola well, but he was distancing himself from her.

About two weeks after first meeting Grillby, Gaster was doing a major overhaul of the CORE and asked Grillby if he could watch Lola for the three days it would take to complete. Lola was indeed highly intelligent, but she was still a small child. Gaster told her it would be easy for her to let the curiosity that marked her high intelligence get the best of her and cause an accident. It was better for them both to let someone else care for her for a few days.

Grillby agreed, albeit reluctantly. He had a major business deal proceeding on the second business day, and that could also be dangerous. His bar was really just a front for his primary business, which was dealing in firearms. The magical firearms he sold were highly prized by humans on the surface. Sometimes the humans he sold them to on the black market tried to cheat him. They learned quickly how ruthless Grillby actually was and that meant he would violently kill the human who tried to cheat him. Sometimes it turned into a firefight. He never told the humans all his weapons could do. At his command the weapons would backfire and kill the person wielding it. It always looked accidental. No one could prove that Grillby had anything to do with the violent deaths.

A child such as Lola should not be anywhere near where he sold his weapons. Still, Lola would learn a few things about the dark side of Fell City. She needed to, if she was going to survive. Grillby got permission from Gaster to teach her the basics of firearms. Gaster accepted the need for her to learn the rudiments of self protection.

Grillby had taken Lola to a practice range in the back of one of his warehouses.

“First and foremost, Lola. Whenever anyone hands you a weapon, always treat it as if it is loaded. Never assume that a weapon is unloaded when it is handed to you. Guns and other firearms are not toys. If you ever see one laid out, treat it as loaded and don’t touch it. You could easily get shot and die if you were to ever play with one.” 

Grillby’s voice was harsh and cold. It frightened Lola. Grillby nodded at her sober expression. He picked up a handgun from a table.

“See this? This is a small hand gun. I will teach you the use of such a weapon for your own safety, but you must understand this first rule completely. If I ever give an instruction as far as putting it down, I demand your obedience to this. I have permission from Gaster to punish you if you disobey me.”

Lola didn’t like the coldness in his voice. She would have done anything to keep him from using that tone on her. She was a good girl. Lola would do whatever Grillby demanded. Lola nodded at Grillby.

Grillby was examining Lola closely. He could tell she would obey him without question.

“Come here, I am going to demonstrate for you. See the ear protection and safety glasses? Put both of them on to protect your ears and your eyes from the gun.”

Lola put on the ear muffs. After some help sizing it properly to her head Grillby nodded at Lola. She then put on the safety glasses. Her hearing was muffled, but she could just make out what he was telling her. 

Grillby lead Lola to a series of targets. 

“I will demonstrate.” Grillby picked up a handgun from the table. He then turned towards the targets. He braced himself and pulled the trigger on the gun. The crack gave Lola goosebumps as he fired several more times at the target. He then pulled a lever that brought the target to within their view. There were several holes in the head and chest area of the target. He nodded at Lola.

“First things first. Let’s see how good of a grip you have,” He picked up Lola’s hands. “Squeeze my hands. I want to see if you have got a good grip.”

Lola began to squeeze Grillby’s hands.

“You have got a good strong grip,” he commented. “Now I will hand you a weapon. Since this is the first time you have ever held a gun in your hand, I have loaded this with what are called blanks. Its a dummy bullet that has wading in the place of a shell. Just the firing cap. Enough for you to learn how to aim and fire the gun,” Grillby’s voice became cold and hard again. “Just remember that even though I have only put blanks in this gun, this is NOT a toy. You treat all live firearms the same, no matter what may be loaded in the gun.”

Lola nodded respectfully. He was teaching her this for her safety. Grillby’s rules were to be respected at all times.

“Before you take aim, here is the second rule of guns. NEVER point a gun at a person unless you mean to kill them. A gun is a lethal weapon. When you are not firing or targeting in practice always leave the gun pointed to the ground, with the safety on. Its for the safety of those around you.”

Grillby handed Lola a small revolver, making sure it was pointed in the firing range at all times. He then proceeded to place Lola’s body parts in the proper stance for firing.

“Okay, Lola you give this a try. Point the gun at the target. See the hammer? Cock the hammer with your thumb and squeeze the trigger. Use more of the strength from your whole hand to make firing a little easier. Be careful to keep the gun pointed at the target at all times. Guns have what is called recoil. In other words when it is fired the gun jumps back. Keep your grip firm so you do not lose control of the gun”

Lola aimed towards the target. Grillby was watching her. “No, no. You aim this way.” Grillby taught Lola to sight on the target. He stepped away.

“Now, cock the hammer and pull the trigger.”

It was harder to cock the hammer than Lola had thought it would be. After she cocked the hammer, she pulled the trigger sighting the way Grillby taught her. As much as he had just warned her about the recoil, it still surprised her with it’s strength. She managed to keep control of the gun.

“The recoil surprised you, didn’t it? Still not as bad as I had thought it would be, for your first shot. Now that you have experienced the recoil, give it another shot. Don’t forget to sight and maintain your grip on the gun,” said Grillby.

Lola sighted again. She cocked and fired the gun one more time. Being better prepared for the recoil, her control was much better.

Grillby nodded, “Much better. Go ahead and finish off the blanks and then we will switch to wax bullets. Wax bullets are safer than regular bullets, but it will allow you to train your sighting and aim. Not quite as safe as blanks but good for training purposes. The kind we will use will mark the target like a crayon so you can see what you hit.”

Grillby taught Lola for a good hour on the proper firing of a handgun.

“You do well,” he complimented. “If we keep up your training you will be able to fire any gun I own. It might become necessary. I will talk to Gaster about it.”


	4. Moonlight

Present Day, Same Morning.

Grillby gently awoke his wife, who had fallen back asleep.

“We had better get up and go soon, love. Housekeeping will be here soon and we don’t want them to get an eyeful, do we?”

Lola yawned, “I guess not. I was just enjoying being held by you as I slept.”

Grillby’s eyes and face were soft on Lola. She was the only person he could let his soft side out for. He had loved her for a long time. Humans had a peculiarity of setting arbitrary ages to adulthood. Monsters mostly didn’t. Adulthood was conferred upon sexual maturity for the most part. If a female could become pregnant and carry a child to term, she was an adult. If males could father a child he was likewise an adult. Numbers didn’t mean anything to a race who did not age the way humans do. If numbers meant anything than Grillby was over three hundred years old to Lola’s twenty one. Lola was his SOULmate. He had completed a SOULbond with her at the age of sixteen. She had become pregnant by him. That made her his wife. The loss of that pregnancy was due to outside forces, not sexual immaturity.

It would not be long before they would mate again. They were both hungry for a child. Lola’s miscarriage had been a bitter blow.

“Lo?” Grillby called softly.

“Yes?”

“It’s time for you to come home,” he said softly. “Permanently. We are going to mate soon. I want you home for everything. I don’t want to worry about my pregnant wife when she can be safe at home.”

“Wasn’t it for my safety you made me come and live on the surface?”

“It was. Things are the same in Fell City, but it is no longer safe for you here. The blindness is taking over. Someone will finally figure out that you are blind and I won’t be able to protect you. Not like I can at home. Besides, I hate you not being near me. Once a week is okay. But, I want you with me permanently, my love.”

“I want to come home. I hate it here on the surface. People don’t understand a thing about me and there no such things as permanent friends in the temporariness of this city,” Lola said softly.

“Then it is agreed. When we are finished here I will have my people pack up your things and you will come home with me. I am not worried about the slave registrars. They already know we are SOULmates and not just an owner and his pet.”

“They wouldn’t try to take me from you would they?”

“No. They can’t. I do not abuse you nor have you ever tried to run away from me.”

“Alright,” was all Lola said.

“Let’s get dressed. I do actually have some plans with you today that are more than just bedsport.”

Lola pouted prettily. Grillby knew she was just kidding. They would have plenty of sex that night.

“Come on, you know we can’t spend all day in bed,” Grillby teased.

“I know,” Lola smiled.

They reluctantly got out of bed and went into the bathroom. They were already nude from a night of love. Grillby turned on the lights fully to give Lola as much sight as she could handle without her glasses. She was still hesitant. He guided her to the shower and placed soap and shampoo were Lola could easily find them. She turned on the water and began to bathe.

Grillby went to his small suitcase and pulled out what appeared to be a special thermos. It contained a special alcohol based cleaning solution for himself. The thermos was dimensional and held enough fluid to fill five bathtubs full. He filled the bathtub and began to bathe. His fires brightened and heated up as he sat in the tub cleaning himself.

Lola finished her shower just as he was finishing his bath. Having a better idea of the layout of the suite, Lola went to the closet and began to pull out clothing. She pulled out a black satin blouse a low neckline with a bit of ruffle. She pulled out a floor length skirt that matched the blouse.

“You should wear your peacock corset with that,” commented Grillby.

Lola nodded and pulled out a corset that whose base color was peacock green. It’s embroidery was exquisite featuring the blues, greens, and purples of peacock feathers. There was gold thread accentuating the individual feathers of the peacock as well as some sequins to add sparkle.

Lola put on the skirt and blouse, but she needed Grillby’s help to tighten and tie the corset. 

“How tight?” Grillby asked. 

“Just enough so I can breathe,” replied Lola.

Grillby nodded. That was actually tighter than modern women could wear. As a part of her training Lola had been wearing corsets since she started to grow breasts. Her waist was tinier than most women’s because of this. The corset also accentuated her ample breasts. In the low cut blouse she was wearing it looked like she could bust out of it at any moment. She wouldn’t. Corsets were better than bras at keeping things in place. Her slave collar glittered in full view. Humans would just think it was an exotic necklace. Lola then put on thigh high hose that had adhesive to stick on her thighs. She wore no other undergarments. She leaned against the corner of two walls as Grillby tightened and tied the corset. She grunted when it was tight enough. Grillby then tied the strings in a fashion so they were as much a part of the statement of the corset as the corset itself was. It was magnificent on her. 

Lola then went to use the mirror as she did her hair and makeup.

“Tied up or loose?” she asked Grillby.

“Loose.”

Lola brushed out her hair with a brush that would heat and dry her hair at the same time. It was less damaging than hair dryers and flat irons.

Having received some training for the blind she pulled out a carefully organized makeup kit and several brushes. She applied the powdered makeup as Grillby added eye pencil, lipstick and mascara to her expertly. 

“Kitten heels, not high heels, Lo,” said Grillby’s

Lola nodded and put the low heels on her feet.

As far as Grillby went as soon as Lola was finished getting ready, he got dressed in a sharp black suit with pinstripes. He put on a red waistcoat that mirrored Lola’s corset, completing the look with a black tie, socks, and shoes. 

“What is on the agenda for today?” asked Lola.

“I was think of going to see the new art exhibit at the gallery. After that I have tickets to go see The Firebird at the theater.” Grillby knew that while Lola might not be able to see the dancer’s, she would appreciate the music of the ballet. The new gallery display was actually an installation piece that focused on soundwaves. It was something they both had wanted to experience.

Grillby grabbed his leather jacket and a beautiful shawl for Lola. They would eat breakfast first as Lola scandalized the hotel restaurant. Lola put on her glasses to try to see as much as she could.

“I’m going to have to see if I can get them stronger,” he murmured to Lola.

Lola shrugged. It was not as if she didn’t know her eyes were failing her.

Grillby tucked Lola’s right arm underneath his own. As they left their hotel room, Lola stayed quiet as Grillby guided her to the elevator. He knew she was counting steps and trying to remember the turns it took to get to their room. A young woman was operating the elevator that morning. 

“Lobby, please.” Grillby said to the woman.

Lola clutched Grillby’s arm slightly as the elevator lowered itself. Being blind, movement such as that spooked her some.

The elevator stopped at the lobby. Lola could see well enough to know that people were staring at the two of them as they entered it. Grillby guided Lola towards the hotel restaurant.

The maitre d’ looked at the two of them carefully as they walked in. 

“For how many?” he asked looking down his nose at Grillby and Lola.

“Two, please.” Grillby said politely. He was in the human world. As much as he would never put up with such airs in Fell City, here it was better to be polite.

“I am afraid there is going to be a wait,” said the maitre d’

“Listen carefully, I am a guest in Suite B. You know very well that puts me ahead of anyone else in line. If you choose to insult either myself or my wife, I will speak to the hotel manager,” Grillby’s voice was icy.

The maitre d’ went pale. Suite B was second only to the Presidential Suite. All guests in Suite B needed was their keycard, for space to be found.

“Your key please?” his tone was much more diffident. After verifying the suite and validity of the card, the maitre d’ found a private table, away from the kitchens and the rest of the hotel guests. It was reserved for deep pockets and was only ever used by them. The atmosphere was tranquil. The waiter arrived about half a minute after they were seated. It was to allow them time to start getting comfortable.

“A bottle of Cristal Rosé, please,” Grillby ordered. 

The waiter nodded and hurried off to get the champagne.

“A champagne breakfast?” asked Lola.

Grillby nodded, “And to toast your birthday, Lo.”

“Order for me.”

Grillby smiled. She trusted his judgment with food ever since she was five. He knew just what to order for her.

The waiter returned with their champagne and two glasses. He knew what to expect. If they were ordering champagne, the meal was going to be rich.

“My wife and I would both like the ham and egg pie. We would also like chocolate croissants as well as berries and cream as an appetizer,” ordered Grillby.

“Shall I pour the champagne?”

“I shall do that,” said Grillby.

“The food sounds fattening,” said Lola after the waiter left.

“It’s meant to be. The champagne breakfast is about rich luxurious foods with a rich luxurious wine. Perfect for a birthday.”

Grillby opened the champagne and poured out the glasses for himself and Lola.

“For you, my beloved. Happy Birthday.”

They clinked glasses and kissed. “I love you, my Pretty. I have loved you since I was five.” 

Grillby’s eyes were tender on Lola. After all these years she still called him that. Lola was the only person who got away with it. Their SOULS rang with love. It didn’t matter that technically he owned Lola. Nothing except a SOULmate could make ones SOUL ring like that. The meeting with the registrar was to find out if he could give Lola her freedom. Grillby wanted Lola to have her full rights as his wife and not a slave. 

The waiter returned with their berries and cream. They ate in companionable silence until a human approached them. Grillby’s blue eyes hardened as the man approached. Lola, sensing his displeasure, kept a blank face. The man was dressed in a grey suit with a plain grey waistcoat and red tie. He also had a white carnation boutonniere. His hair was blond and trimmed close.

“Grillby Pyreson?” the man’s voice was soft. “My name is Chris Mathieu...”

“I know who you are,” Grillby said coldly. “I have sent you a message that I do not wish to discuss business right now. It is unseemly to disturb me when I have said not to. Especially since I am entertaining a lady right now.”

“I know you said you didn’t want to discuss business. But, my business cannot wait...”

“Then find another distributor. My rules are very clear. If you cannot abide by them, find another seller.” Grillby was starting to heat up. It was a sign of his anger. “Last warning. Leave. Do not disturb me nor my lady. If you wish to do business with me, I will contact you when I am ready.”

The human laid disdainful eyes on Lola. “Your “lady” is nothing more than a harl-”

A knife appeared out nowhere and whistled just past the human’s ear. It landed in a wall behind the human. The human went pale.

“That was a warning,” Grillby’s voice was filled with silky threat. “Leave. Now. I will no longer conduct business with you after the insult to my lady. Your initial deposit will be refunded immediately.”

Lola remained silent. She quietly sipped her champagne as the human retreated. Grillby got up and pulled the knife out of the wall. He quickly pocketed it and returned to his seat as the waiter came with the main course of the meal. Lola could guess what Grillby was thinking. He would want her back in the safety in Fell City as soon as possible after this. 

“I’m sorry, Lo.” Grillby whispered after he calmed down.

“I guess we go home sooner than I had thought,” said Lola.

“Today we will do what I have planned, we shall return home tomorrow.”

“Who was that?”

“New client. I had told him I would contact him when I was ready to make a deal. He was persistent. I didn’t expect him to go looking for me.”

“How dangerous is he.”

“Pretty dangerous, although not as dangerous as others. He is a new kid trying to make a name for himself. He will get himself and his people killed if he does not learn patience. He has not learned that some people are far more dangerous than they seem. He has gained a fair amount of power in the human underworld. His former superiors have not clipped his wings yet. I think they plan to have him kill himself with his impatience and impetuousness.”

“Is he a threat?”

“Not to you nor to me. I will teach him a lesson he will never forget if he bothers me again.”

Grillby and Lola finished their breakfast giving their attentive waiter a generous tip. As promised they went to the art gallery lingering over an installation piece that focused on sound waves. The artist was there answering questions about his piece. Lola had surprised him with the sharpness of her questions.

Afterwards, Grillby took Lola to the ballet to enjoy The Firebird. Lola couldn’t see the dancers well. But she enjoyed the orchestra while Grillby got to enjoy the dancing. Lola smiled. Grillby loved dance and dancing. She had been nine when he had first taught her to dance. She remembered the feel of his strong body as they danced together. Lola supposed that was when she knew she was in love with Grillby. 

Even though she was at the age of nine, they had danced with the stars in their eyes and more than simple friendship in their hearts. She remembered the rage and jealousy in Gaster’s eyes. That was, in many ways, the beginning of the end as well as the start of something new. 

Grillby’s hand tightened around hers. They smiled and kissed each other. 

“Come, love. Let’s go back to the hotel,” Grillby whispered to Lola.

It was much later. Grillby was sleeping deeply as Lola lay awake next to him. She remembered the first time Gaster injected her with the magic she would come to be addicted to.

It had started innocently enough. He told her he was giving her vitamin shots to help her with a slight vitamin D deficiency. Living in Fell City, it was mostly underground with only parts of the Ruins being exposed to daylight. She and Gaster were in the city itself which meant she did not receive a lot of sunshine. Being a slave it was very rare for her to be allowed on the surface to get any, so a vitamin D deficiency was pretty common among human slaves. At first she felt a rush of energy she assumed had been the vitamins working. She had been five. It was right after the second time that Grillby had watched her when Gaster was purported to be unable to watch her. Lola liked Grillby, but she was only beginning to trust him. Lola thought Red was funny and Edge was scary. 

In time Lola found herself going back and forth between Gaster and Grillby. Gaster taught Lola about science and the wonders of discovery as he taught her the mannerisms of the high nobility. Grillby taught Lola about business transactions and diplomacy in a business setting. As much as Gaster taught Lola, she learned more from Grillby. It was an interesting education in Lola’s formative years. Grillby taught Lola the seamier side of Fell City the way only someone who worked in it could.

Grillby had not known what Gaster was doing to Lola away from prying eyes. No one had known that Gaster had begun to experiment on Lola. The first time Gaster had truly gotten her high on magic, it had almost killed her. Lola had received small infusions of magic, but Gaster had not given her a dose strong enough to make her high on it, until then. Lola was only six. She had no idea what Gaster had done to her. Only that it had been both extremely painful and extremely pleasurable at once. Lola had no real tolerance to magic and her body treated the strong dose as the foreign substance it was. Lola could never forget the cruelly pleased way Gaster looked when he told her that she had been unconscious for two days. The only thing she could remember was the pain and pleasure. She had felt her SOUL crack. 

Gaster then reminded Lola that he was her master. Her life and death was solely based on his pleasure. She had told no one of what he had done to her. She couldn’t. Gaster would kill her if she spoke up. 

When Red had sold her to Grillby after Gaster killed himself in his madness, Lola learned that what Gaster had told her wasn’t quite true. It was all based on the caste of slave that she was. In some ways as a slave, she was to live for her master’s pleasure. However, alpha caste slaves had rights that other slaves did not. She was to be inspected annually by the slave registrars. Since she was sold at the age of five, this was to ensure that Lola was educated according to the caste she lived in. It also was to ensure that she was treated well. The registrars absolutely did not tolerate abuse to alpha caste slaves. If an owner was found negligent or abusive they would revoke the owners right to that slave and that slave would be rehabilitated and resold, usually as a pet slave. If the abuse was too great, sometimes it was best to kill the poor human. 

Lola felt Grillby’s strong arms pull her to him and he began to stroke Lola’s hair. 

“You should be sleeping,” he murmured. Grillby’s voice was thick with sleep. Lola curled up in Grillby’s arms. 

“I was just thinking.”

“I am here, for you. Never will I let someone crack your SOUL again.”

“Aren’t you afraid that someday my SOUL will fracture beyond repair?”

“A little. Just remember I will NEVER let you go without fighting for you. If it kills me, so be it. My life isn’t worth living if you were not here with me.” Grillby’s voice was soft but the resolve was stronger than steel. If he had to fight Death itself for Lola, he would. Grillby’s resolve had been all that had kept her alive at one point. Lola smiled at Grillby. She let herself fall asleep knowing that she was secure in his arms. 

Grillby remembered the day he had taught Lola to dance. He had been shocked when Lola had told him she had never seen the moon or the stars at night. He had taken her to a secluded spot in the Ruins where you could see them and still be in the safety of Fell City. Lola had been nine. 

Grillby smiled as he remembered the wonder in her eyes at such a beautiful sight. Something in him had changed forever as she smiled. As if all the joy and happiness in the world was contained in it. He had never seen anything as beautiful as Lola when she smiled in that way. It had taken him years to figure out that she had stolen his heart and SOUL on that night. Even now, there was nothing so pure and unspoiled as she had been in that moment.

Drunk on her happiness, he bowed deeply to Lola and asked her to dance in the moonlight with him. Lola had blushed and said she didn’t know how to dance. Grillby had smiled and told her he would teach her. She had been a little awkward but as she began to relax and move with him, they moved together gracefully in the moonlight drenched night.

Lola had spotted Gaster first. Grillby remembered how she had jumped out of his arms more than a little afraid. He had hated the stricken look on her face when only a moment before it had been filled with such happiness.

“So, this is where you two have wandered off to,” Gaster’s voice was icy. 

Grillby heated in anger. “We had not wandered off. Lola has never seen the moon and stars before. I brought her here to see them for the first time.”

“And now you are dancing with Lola. I had no idea you were such a romantic.”

“Lola,” Gaster's voice was even colder to her. “Go to your room and wait for me there. Do not fall asleep until I return.” Lola blanched but did what he had instructed. She looked back as she left the Ruins. It didn’t look like Gaster and Grillby said a word to each other.

Gaster stared at Grillby. His face was deep in thought.

“Dance with me, Grillby.”

Grillby began to dance with Gaster perfunctorily. 

“No, No, my pet. With passion. The way you danced with Lola.”

Grillby backed away from Gaster.

“What do you want from me, Gaster?”

“What I have always wanted from you, Grill. You. Your love. Your passion. You give them so easily to Lola. But never to me.”

“Lola is a child, Gaster. I would never take advantage of that.”

“Maybe not now. What about in a few years when she becomes a woman? Will you steal my property from me as she becomes an adult? Will you complete a SOULbond with Lola and make her your wife?”

“I would never try to steal her from you.”

“Then come with me, my love. If you let me be your spouse, I will give you a share in Lola. You could lie with her on her adulthood ceremony and take her maidenhead. All things are possible if you come with me,” Gaster’s voice was chilling.

Grillby’s reply was tired. “Gaster we have been friends a long time. Since childhood. You know I have never felt the same about you, the way you seem to about me. You should not use Lola in such a way either. She is just a child and doesn’t understand what is going on.”

“You would do well to remember that Lola is my property, Grillby. Her life and death are at my pleasure, not yours. I have indulged you both seeing that you are genuinely fond of each other. But, know this. If I can’t have you, Grillby, neither can Lola. I can and will deny the two of you the joys and pleasures of being SOULmates if I cannot have you.”

“Gaster...”

Gaster moved with surprising speed. “I will make other arrangements for Lola. Do not trouble yourself with her anymore. Do not come looking for her. Until you pay my price for Lola, keep away from her.”


	5. Doggrel

Present Day

The ringing of Grillby’s phone awoke both Lola and Grillby that morning. They groaned tiredly as the phone rang incessantly as they tried to sleep.

Grillby got out of bed and answered the blasted phone. “Whoever this is, I told you not to disturb me until I returned,” he growled.

He sat in a bedside chair and lit a cigarette. Monster cigarettes were not like human cigarettes. They gave off colored smoke and smelled like human vaporizers. The kind that Grillby liked gave off a silvery smoke, smelled like cologne, and tasted like cognac. To Lola, their smell just enhanced Grillby’s natural muskiness. His smell was very masculine. No human would ever guess that Grillby was smoking in this room. It smelled too good to be smoke.

“Fine. Set it up for eleven,” Grillby’s voice was low, almost growling in anger. He hung up.

“What time is it?” Grillby rubbed his tired eyes.

“Sun up,” replied Lola.

Grillby squinted sleep filled eyes as he smoked his cigarette. “Six-thirty,” he read from the alarm clock. “Dammit.”

“What’s going on?”

“Chris Mathieu is demanding his refund. I need to go to the bank and get his deposit amount in cash. I’m the only one the bank will allow to make such a cash withdrawal.”

“Did you want me to come with you?”

“No. Stay here. I have to go to the bank when they open at eight. It will take a few hours for the bank to get that amount of cash together. It looks like we will need to stay tonight after all. Get extra rest. Order room service. Look your sexiest for me when I return. We will go back to Fell City tomorrow.”

“Come back to bed.”

Grillby smiled, “As much as I would love to, the bank opens at eight. I need to get ready.”

“Can I get a kiss before you leave me all by my lonesome?”

Grillby smiled and kissed Lola, “For you, my love.” Lola swooned a little. “There is more where that came from, Lo,” he smirked at his wife. Grillby tucked Lola back into bed and began to get ready for the rest of his day. It had already started badly.

Lola couldn’t sleep knowing that Grillby was leaving her for a few hours. There was something about him being forced to leave that didn’t set well with her. She was restless and nervous. Grillby wasn’t certain if it was Lola’s nervousness or a fine tuned instinct that also made him uneasy. He went through Lola’s purse. She always had a few weapons with her, just in case. It was an outgrowth of being raised in Fell City. You learned to trust your instincts. 

Lola had a derringer loaded with .357 magnum bullets, and a what appeared to be a pen vaporizer with her. Blind as Lola was, the derringer had magically enhanced bullets that would strike her target, no matter how badly she had aimed. Grillby had created the magically enhanced bullets when he realized that Lola could no longer aim as well as he had taught her. The vape was filled with a special drugged vape juice. If a human breathed in its scent they would fall asleep until help could arrive. Lola had special pills she took to be immune from the drug.

“Do me a favor, Lo?” Grillby asked. 

“Sure, what is it?”

“Take the pills for the vape and keep your derringer with you at all times before I get back. I will use our code on the door before I open it, so you know it’s me.”

“You don’t like this any more than I do, do you?”

“I could just be jumping at shadows, but I am as nervous as you. I would rather a few precautions were taken, than finding you shot in our room.”

Lola nodded. It was sensible. She also had a few other surprises up her sleeve. She showered as Grillby bathed. After bathing she put on a red silk teddy and spider silk fishnet stockings attached with a garter belt. She swallowed three small pills and put the derringer in a special holster on the teddy. She kept the pen vape in a pocket in her silk robe. Nothing that was terribly obvious.

Grillby finished getting ready. He looked like a businessman conducting his daily business as he left. He once again reminded Lola about his using their knock code when he returned. 

The knock code was something they had set up before they were even married. As dangerous as Grillby’s profession was, it was sometimes necessary for Lola’s safety. Grillby would knock on the door in a specific pattern. If Lola opened the door in ten seconds, Grillby knew it was safe. If she didn’t, he knew there was danger and to enter with caution. Lola was not to answer the door without that code. If someone entered the suite without it, Lola would take up arms in her defense.

Grillby was still uneasy when he left Lola in their hotel room. He decided to call a friend to keep a watch on her.

A growling voice answered, “Yeah, Grillbz? What’s up?”

“Are you in Ebott City?”

“As always, boss. Keepin’ an eye on your bar here.”

“Good, Doggrel. Listen, Lola is currently in Suite B of the Crown Hotel. I have some business that requires me to leave her for a time. There is something about my leaving her that makes me uneasy. I will pay twice your usual fee if you can go and keep a watch on the door to our room until I return. You know how to watch and not make yourself be seen.”

“Yeah, boss. I can keep an eye on your mate.”

“Thank you, Doggrel. You can leave when I arrive. We will then go to the bar later for payment.”

“Anytime, Grillbz.”

Grillby hung up his phone. Doggrel was the eldest son of Dogamy and Dogaressa. He and Lola were actually the same age. Sometimes when Grillby watched Lola as a small child they would play together in the snows of Snowdin Town. Lola trusted Doggrel almost as much as she trusted Grillby. She knew he would keep her safe if it came to it. When Lola ran away from Gaster, it had been Doggrel who found Lola and kept her safe until Grillby arrived. He had refused to leave her side when it was discovered how she had been blinded and abused by Gaster. He was currently working as a bouncer at Grillby’s surface bar. Doggrel occasionally took side jobs guarding Lola. 

One of the things Doggrel was doing was training one of Lesser Dogs pups as a Guide Dog for Lola. Both Grillby and Doggrel knew it was only a matter of time before she needed one. One of Lesser Dogs pups were perfect. They looked like cute dogs until they were crossed. Being more dog-like than Doggrel her dog instincts were stronger, but she had all the intelligence of any monster. 

Doggrel left his apartment in the back of Grillby’s bar. He would go directly to the Crown and watch that door. Lola would be safe.

Lola stayed awake after Grillby had left her in the hotel room. She put on her robe and watched TV as she waited for his return. She also listened to the sounds of the hotel elevator. Being nearly blind she had to trust her ears with noises. The first time she had heard something fairly suspicious, nothing happened. She guessed it was room service for one of the other rooms on the floor. The second time was more suspicious. There were the sounds of heavy feet approaching the door. Lola pulled out the vape and began to fill the room with clouds of drugged vapor. She went to a tall bar stool and made a sexy pose as she heard someone open the keylock. She continued to vape. 

“Well, well, Ms Coxop. I see you are all dressed up with no one to blow.”

The voice belonged to Chris Mathieu.

Lola smiled, “I see that you have heard of me.” She crossed her legs, showing off her legs. She vaped some more. She was wearing her glasses, which allowed her some clarity of vision, but it was still badly blurred.

Chris approached her. She blew a cloud of vape into his face. He was breathing in the drug, but it still took a few minutes to be effective. She could only keep him entertained until the drug took effect. 

“Yes. I have heard of you. You are the favorite harlot of Grillby Pyreson. So much so that he pays for your services at least once a week.”

“What do you want from me?”

“Your cooperation, for one.”

Lola once again puffed in his face.

“No.”

Chris grabbed Lola’s arm painfully and pulled her to him. He held a knife to her. Lola did not struggle. The knife was loose in his hands.

Amateur night, thought Lola.

She smashed his foot with all of her weight. He yelped in surprised pain. Lola then bit his hand and kicked him in the groin in a matter of seconds. The knife clattered to the ground. Someone had broken the door.

When the pain cleared, Chris Mathieu saw that he was looking dead on at the barrel of a four shot derringer. Lola’s face was as cold as ice. 

His face turned purple in rage. He attempted to lunge at Lola. The last thing he knew, was the crack of the gun as Lola fired all four shots point blank in his chest. 

“You’re still a damn good shot, Lola.” came a familiar voice.

“Doggrel?” asked Lola.

“It’s me, Lo. Grillbz asked me to come over to keep an eye out for you. I came as fast as I could. The bastard beat me here.”

“POLICE! FREEZE!!”

Lola stood still with her hands up with the gun still in it. Lola was covered in Chris Mathieu’s blood. She wished she had been wearing more clothing.

The police took the gun from her hands. The cops were a mix of humans and monsters. 

The cops swarmed the room. Lola said nothing as they did so. She heard Grillby speaking loudly outside the door. He was demanding access to his wife. Lola got the message.

A human male cop was watching Lola.

“May I get dressed?”

“May I ask why you are dressed the way that you are?”

“Is it illegal to wait in a hotel room for one’s husband wearing lingerie?”

He scowled then smiled faintly, “No ma’am, it isn’t. Let me get a female officer. We will want to take your clothing as evidence.”

Lola nodded. The officer got a female officer to observe Lola as she got dressed in normal clothing. 

The lady officer was kind. “Are you two honeymooners?”

“No. My husband was treating me for my birthday,” said Lola as she undressed. 

“You want a washcloth to clean up a bit?” 

“Yes, please and thank you.”

“Nasty bruise on your arm. Did that guy grab you there?” The cop handed Lola a washcloth as she pointed out the bruise on Lola’s arm.

“I think I will wait for my lawyer before I make a statement,” said Lola 

“Up to you. We can tell that guy has the sort of wounds a woman would give him if she were defending herself.”

“I’ll still wait,” Lola smiled.

The lady officer shrugged. She knew that was the smart thing to do. Lola got dressed in the only plain clothes she had, a pair of jeans and a tee shirt. She had brought it to be inconspicuous at the end of the three days. Still it was clean and wasn't particularly sexy. No one would have looked twice at Lola.


	6. The Police

Six hours later, Lola was still at the police station exhausted. The lawyer Grillby had gotten for Lola had told her in private that the police were so close because someone had stabbed to death a hotel bellhop. Things were at a standstill as they waited for a copy of Lola’s statement in braille. The closest braille printer was actually in the courthouse but police had to wait for the proper officer of the court to allow for the printout. Her lawyer refused to have Lola sign anything if Lola could not get it in braille. It had shocked the police officers that Lola was legally blind. They had to admit though, that Lola’s derringer was simple enough for the blind to be able to use readily. At the range Lola had been shooting at the was no chance to miss with .357 magnum bullets. 

Lola rested her hands in her arms as she waited. She just wanted to go home with Grillby and let him spoil her. She dozed. She felt a light tap on her arm from the lawyer, as the detective investigating the shooting walked in. 

“All right Ms Coxop, I have your statement printed out in braille, as you have requested. Sorry for the delay. We don’t have a braille printer here in our station, so we needed to go to the courthouse. Those things are thousands of dollars so the city is limited on how many it owns. The officer of the court who printed it out told me to tell you that the statement is in both braille and regular type so the spacing is doubled.”

Lola nodded, “If you can tell her thank you for me, I would appreciate that.”

Lola let her fingers trace the braille lettering. Lola’s lawyer was reading the text lettering as Lola read the braille. They both nodded. The statement was accurate. Lola found the raised line where she was to sign. 

“May I borrow a pen?” Lola held out her hand. 

The detective placed the pen in Lola’s outstretched hand. Lola signed the statement.

“What happens next?”

“You get to go home. I understand you and your husband are residents of Fell City. If we have any further questions or if the DA’s office wishes to speak to you we will contact the Royal Guard. We are not recommending pressing charges. From the murder of the bellhop to what forensics has already processed from the crime scene, this was self defense.”

“May I see my husband?”

“Sure. He is waiting just outside for you.”

The door opened and Grillby entered the room. His flames were blue tinged with worry. He went to Lola and embraced her fiercely. The tears Lola had held back sprang forth from her eyes as he touched her. He stroked her hair and let her cry. He felt he should never have left her alone. Grillby didn’t think that bastard would go so low as to go after Lola.

“Come, love. Let’s go. We will make a stop, then we will go home.”

“Were are going?”

“Doggrel’s place. Let’s get you cleaned up and changed. Doggrel and Red are both waiting there. They will be with us as we catch the train home.”

Lola wiped the tears from her eyes, “Okay,” was all she said.

The detectives watching the room from a hidden camera watched with interest. 

“Damn,” said one. “They really are married.”

“What made you think they were not?”

“It’s damn rare for monsters to marry humans. Monsters believe in SOULmates. If a monster is married to a human, then they have to be SOULmates. I didn’t believe they were really married or if they were, in name only. Watching them, they really are SOULmates.”

“What do you know about Grillby Pyreson?”

“Not much. He is a legal distributor of monster alcohol here in Ebott City. He also owns a couple of bars in town. Grillby is absolutely ruthless. I have heard rumors of things he has done when people try to cheat him. Nothing can be proven though. For someone of his reputation, he must be SOULmates to the girl to be that gentle with her. You don’t want to fuck with him.”

“What do you know of this Chris Mathieu?

“He was a flunky trying to make a name for himself. He could have been trying to cheat Grillby and went after Ms Coxop to leverage a deal.” 

“Stupid.” said one detective.

“Very,” smiled the other.

Grillby lead Lola from the police station to Doggrel’s apartment behind Grillby’s bar. 

Doggrel was waiting for them when they arrived.

“Lola! Are you okay?” Doggrel immediately took Lola from Grillby and began an inspection of her. His tail was wagging furiously.

“I’m alright, Doggrel,” she said wearily.

“Come, Lo. Let’s get you cleaned up. Then we all go home.”

“We?”

“Grillby wants me to be your watchdog until I can finish training up Dogette to take my place.”

“Dogette?”

“Yes,” said Grillby. “Doggrel has been training Dogette to be your permanent Guide Dog. Dogette being more dog like has better dog instincts which are better used in both guard and guide dog duties. Humans are off put by her appearance into thinking she is a simple seeing eye dog instead of a guard dog.”

“Come, Lola. Let’s get you cleaned up and suitably dressed for going home,” coaxed Doggrel.

“I heard that Red was here.”

“He is,” answered Doggrel. “He is in the bar keeping an eye out for any gangsters who wish to make reparations to Grillby.”

Grillby handed Lola a garment bag. In it was a red silk button up blouse and another floor length skirt that hugged Lola’s hips to the knees then flared out to the ankles. Doggrel guided Lola and Grillby to the bedroom where there was an attached bathroom. Doggrel left them alone while Lola undressed. Grillby then guided Lola to the shower where he placed soap, shampoo and a washcloth for Lola.

Lola showered quickly with an almost brutality as if to clean more than just blood off of her body. As she showered she began to cry again. She had felt herself gain another Level Of ViolencE in the gunfight. She felt unclean in the SOUL more than her body. She mourned for herself as she washed.

Grillby could hear Lola crying in the shower. He once again grew angry over the need for Lola to ever gain LOVE. Lola was one of the few people he knew that did not believe in the Kill or Be Killed rule than governed Fell City. It was ironic for a girl who had been born a slave and subject to more violence than any human on the surface ever had, to be far less violent than other humans were. It gave Grillby hope for himself and his brethren. That was why he worked so hard to protect her. 

When Lola finished her shower she stepped out into the rest of the bathroom. She quickly found a towel and dried off. After that she wrapped her hair into the towel. Lola fumbled her way out of the bathroom, where Grillby promptly pulled her into his chest. 

“Let it all out, Lo. You need to let it out,” Grillby whispered comfortingly.

Lola began to sob into her husbands chest. Grillby held her and stroked her bare skin in comfort. When Lola stopped crying he began to kiss away her tears. Lola’s breathing eventually calmed. Grillby kissed Lola gently.

“How much LV did you gain?” was Grillby’s soft question.

“One.”

Grillby frowned. That gave Lola a total LV of three. He hated every bit of LV Lola ever gained. All of it had been necessary, but Grillby still hated it. He felt he wasn’t protecting her as he should whenever she gained any LV. It always broke his heart some. LV 3 was nothing next to his own but Grillby hated it when Lola gained any.

“Come, Love. Get dressed. Let’s go home,” Grillby whispered.

As Lola had showered, Grillby laid out all of the appropriate undergarments. There was a bra, panties, a garter belt as well as gartered stockings. Grillby always felt that bare legs were under dressed legs, so Lola always wore some form of hosiery whenever she wore a skirt or dress no matter the weather was. To be honest, Lola preferred the way hosiery felt when she walked than the feel of bare legs. In heat or cold, bare legs had a tendency to chafe a little. Grillby always said hosiery just flat out looks better. 

Lola finished getting dressed with Grillby’s assistance. When she was dressed Grillby helped her brush out her damp hair and put on a pair of high heeled shoes. Those looking at Lola would see her jeweled collar as plain as day. They were going to Fell City, after all. Grillby was making it plain that Lola had an owner.

Grillby then lead Lola to a chair.

“I need to check your collar,” he said softly.

Lola nodded. Grillby may be her husband, but he had also been her owner since she was twelve. Grillby was checking the registry on the collar. If Fell City officials checked her collar, it needed to be plain that Grillby owned her, for Lola’s safety. If the registry didn’t check out, she could wind up in a slave pen as a runaway. Those that guarded runaway slaves were brutal to those slaves. When Lola had runaway from Gaster, the only thing that kept her out of the runaway pens had been the obvious abuse she had gone through as his slave. Being marked once as a runaway, officials always double checked Lola’s collar to ensure she had not run away again. 

Grillby touched two gems on the throat of the collar. He closed his eyes with a sigh. Good, the registry was still strong. When he removed his hands from the throat gems he moved them to two other gems on the collar. These gems were to give Lola the amount of magic she required daily to survive. They were not giving Lola her required magic. 

“Stand up and look into my eyes,” Grillby murmured. He would have to feed her addiction a little more directly today. The pale blue fire of his eyes met Lola’s unnaturally purple ones. Lola felt Grillby gently take hold of her SOUL and give her a small trickle of magic. Not enough to get high off of. Just enough that the hunger was fed.

Grillby always hated it. He hated how Gaster infused so much magic into Lola that she would die without a little bit every single day. That magic was making Lola a little less human everyday. Human SOULS were supposed to be colored according to their dominant traits. Lola’s SOUL had been the dark blue on Integrity as a child. You could no longer see that color anymore, unless you knew what and where to look. 

The magic was stealing Lola’s sight from her. The magic had formed cataract-like crystals in her eyes turning them purple. Like cataracts, they took away Lola’s vision a little bit at a time. Unlike human cataracts, there was nothing that could stop the crystals forming in her eyes. Laser eye surgery could only slow the progress of the blindness. The crystals always reformed. They had tried twice to slow the blindness with laser surgery.

Grillby let go of his hold on Lola’s SOUL. Tears formed in his eyes as he pulled Lola close to him. He wished things had been different when Lola had been a child. Perhaps if he could have given Gaster what he had wanted, she would not have suffered as badly as she had. There was no way she could not have suffered at all. Gaster had begun his experiments on her not long after Grillby had met Lola. All Grillby could do was wish her suffering had been less. 

There was a knock on the door.

“Grillbz, Red says a human named Fingers wants to see ya,” said Doggrel. 

Grillby’s face became a stone mask. There could be no question to these humans that reparations were in order. 

“Stay here with Doggrel,” he murmured to Lola.

“Doggrel stay here with Lola, Red come with me,” instructed Grillby. Both Doggrel and Red nodded. Red was Grillby’s backup while Doggrel guarded Lola. 

Doggrel guided Lola to a chair in his living room. The whole apartment smelled heavily of dog. Doggrel tried his best to get rid of the dog smell, but it was an impossible task being that he was a dog. Still, except for the smell the apartment was as clean as anyone could want. Doggrel kept in mind his mother’s voice about leaving food and fur everywhere. When Doggrel expected guests he usually burned a special incense to get rid of dog odor for a short time. 

“Want something to drink, Lo?”

“Tea, if you have it,” replied Lola.

“Just give me a moment.”

Doggrel got Lola her tea and after serving her, they began to wait. Hopefully, Grillby would be back shortly. 

Grillby had put on his dark, almost black sunglasses and leather jacket as he had left Doggrel’s apartment. For Lola’s sake he needed to be in control of the entire situation. Fingers’s had held Chris Mathieu’s leash. He was supposed to keep his underling under complete control at all times. After what had happened today, Grillby was willing to bet that his bar was crawling with police. If things went badly, he would not be able to kill Fingers as brutally as he would normally.

Grillby entered the bar. The barkeeper was a former Royal Guardsman named Cotton. Cotton had served faithfully as RG 1 until he had been injured when Gaster blew up his hidden laboratory. After he had healed Grillby gave him a job. Cotton knew all the cops on the surface and many came over to swap cop stories with the former Guardsman. Cotton put up with little bullshit the way Grillby did, which made him ideal for Grillby’s surface bar. Grillby walked immediately to a locked door which contained his surface office. 

Cotton whispered to his second in command and went to the back and into the back door of Grillby’s office.

“Careful, Grillbz. This place is crawling with both human and monster cops.”

“I suspected as much,” replied Grillby.

He pulled out a sheet of paper and began to write. Since he could easily burn paper, it was an easy way to hold two conversations. The paper copy would be destroyed.

“How’s business?” said Grillby as he began to write on the paper. ‘You heard about what happened to Lola?’

Cotton began to prattle about sales and number while he wrote down about the gangster in the backroom.

Grillby verbally asked about exports and payments received while he wrote to Cotton to tell the gangster to return when he next called. To offer his apology, the bar was too full of cops to talk right now. Cotton nodded. Just the mention of cops would make the gangster go away. Cotton left the office from the front room. A human was spotted with his ear at the door. He smiled sheepishly at Cotton and the rabbit monster picked him up by the collar in one hand. He then shut the door with the other. Cotton then threw the human out into the street. 

Alone, Grillby crumpled up the paper he had been writing with. He then did something he never did in public, but Lola had seen him do when he wanted to be certain no one got their hands on his communications. He swallowed the paper ball whole, allowing for his own fires to destroy it. He promptly lit up one of his favorite cigarettes releasing smoke from the paper to blend in with the smoke from his cigarettes. All an outsider would ever see or smell was the cologne scent of his cigarettes. No one would ever be able to find his incinerator since he himself was the incinerator. He waited for a return answer. He did not wait long. 

Red entered Grillby’s office.

“I was told to tell ya that he would come back in a week. After things cool off.”

Grillby nodded. If he got a reply so quickly that meant that those gangsters were serious about brokering peace. If they had not been, Fingers would have argued about coming back later. Grillby lit another cigarette. He would leave in about twenty minutes. Long enough not to attract much attention to himself. The cops would think he was checking his books as he invariably did once a week. Routines helped keep cops off his back. Lola was safe with Doggrel. Red sat down in front of Grillby.

“We taking the eight o’clock train?”

“Yes. We will travel overnight and arrive home in the morning.”

“You got all her paperwork?”

“You know I always have them. Too many officials think that you should have never sold her to me. They would have killed her in their ignorance.”

“I was responsible for Gaster’s estate. The registrars agreed that even though normally she would have sold for far more than you paid me for her, you were taking on a huge responsibility. No one else could have kept her alive the way you did.”

“I think what really sticks in those officials craw is that Lola is my SOULmate. I can and have applied for her freedom. They hate that. That means Lola gets her full rights as a citizen as well as my wife. Not that freedom means that much to Lola. She is going to have to depend on me for the rest of her life. Freedom or not.” 

“Shall we return to Lola and Doggrel?”

“In a few minutes. There are a lot of police out in the crowd today. Let them think I am conducting normal business and then we shall leave. They can’t follow us on the train, so let them get their fill.”

When Grillby had returned to Doggrel’s apartment it was close to six o’clock. Doggrel had kept Lola entertained while Grillby was away. Lola was tired. She wanted rest. Grillby gently reminded Lola that she could sleep on the train home. A taxi was waiting outside to drive them to the train station for the overnight ride back to Fell City.

Lola got to her feet as Grillby help Lola put her jacket on. It would be cold outside until they arrived at the train station. They then got into a taxi that would transport Lola, Grillby, Doggrel, and Red to the train station. When they arrived they were quickly ushered into a separate room that was for Fell City residents and their personnel. 

As soon as they were ushered into the more private room, Grillby pulled out a jeweled leash out of his pocket and clipped it to Lola’s collar. Several Guardsmen nodded at Grillby and a government official briskly walked over. 

“Papers please for yourself and your slave.”

Grillby handed his paperwork over to the official who read over his paperwork. The official pulled out a device that allowed him to check the registry on Lola’s collar. The official nodded slowly. The collar matched the paperwork of the slave’s owner. He left them with a bow. They could board the train whenever they were ready. 

It was a good time to board the train. There would be time for a meal in their car before they left. 

Grillby quickly guided Lola to the train. “There are four rather steep steps. Let me board first and I will guide you up them,” he said to Lola. After Grillby guided Lola up the stairs onto the train, he then guided them into a suite car. 

All trains to Fell City had four types of accommodations for the fourteen hour train ride. For citizens and residents of certain statuses, First class suites were more like a small bedrooms complete with beds, seats and a table. Coach class seats had seating in a variety of sizes to accommodate every type of monster. Slaves could only board the train with their masters so they were seated with citizens and other residents. For non residents and workers of other statuses the accommodations were much more utilitarian. Even first class train riders among non residents had bigger cars, but for them it was not unlike riding a human train. Coach class seats were also like human trains. Every first class seat had dinner and breakfast included but the difference in food was like eating a delicious steak dinner and being offered a hamburger.

Grillby had booked two suites to accommodate their party. Red and Doggrel would share one suite as Grillby and Lola had the other. Grillby handed Doggrel the tickets for himself and Red. The conductors would be by after the train departed to check tickets. Until then they could call down to the dining car and order their meal. 

He and Lola began to get comfortable. Lola had taken off her heels and sat in a chair Grillby had lead her to. She was tired and although she had not eaten much wasn’t really hungry. Grillby ordered a light meal for her. He knew Lola was tired and would want to sleep as soon as the conductor took their tickets. 

They ate quietly as people boarded the train. At eight o’clock, they felt the train begin its journey to Fell City. Servers quietly picked up the dinner dishes as they continued to wait for the conductor. 

There was a quiet tap on the door 

“Ticket and papers, please,” said a quiet voice.

Grillby checked and then opened the door for the conductor. He double checked their tickets and travel documents and wished them a good night. 

Afterwards, Grillby approached Lola.

“Ready for bed?” was all he asked. 

Lola was pretty numb from exhaustion and just nodded. Grillby then helped her to her feet and helped Lola change into her plain nightgown for bed. He then prepared the bed for sleep. He lay down next to Lola, he wasn’t quite as tired as she was but knew she wanted him close to help keep nightmares away. Her night terrors were always worse when she was as exhausted as she was. Grillby’s presence kept her from waking up screaming in panic. Grillby could always tell when the dreams came and was able to calm Lola back into a more peaceful sleep. It was going to be a long night for them both.


	7. Homecoming

Fell City

An elderly human hung up the phone on the wall. She was quite old, approaching seventy five human years. Master Grillby had been trying to get her to retire for years. She refused. She still had Lady Lola to look after and care for. She had known Lola since she had been a small child. It delighted her in those days to see such a beautiful and bright child in Master’s home. Master would take on the responsibility of Lola when her master was too busy to care for her personally. Lola was such a sweet child. Even though Lola was a higher caste slave than she herself was, Lola would always try and help her around he house. Grillby thought that it was good for Lola to learn the rudiments of cooking and cleaning. It gave Lola a sense of appreciation for what other slaves did on a daily basis. 

The human woman, whose name was June, had always been grateful to be in service to Grillby. Master was kinder than others about the well bring of the slaves that he owned. Few masters cared as much as he did. Among the slaves in Grillby’s household, she was Grillby’s housekeeper and the personal servant to Lady Lola. Of all the working caste slaves in this house, June ruled them all. The only slave of a higher caste was Lola herself, and Lola was always respectful to both June and the other slaves in this house. The past two years had been hard on both June in addition to Grillby with Lola not being home. The phone call was a joyous one for June. Lola was coming home. She needed to prepare Master’s bedroom for the return of his wife.

June being Grillby’s housekeeper always heard rumors about Gaster from other slaves. She had always prayed that they were not true. She remembered Grillby’s hurt and sense of loss when Gaster refused to let Lola come to visit anymore. Even though Lola was only a child, her sweetness had changed Grillby. Grillby was made a better man with Lola in his life. June was not ignorant of the fact that Grillby could and sometimes did kill with relative ease. Lola made Grillby want to be better. 

She remembered the day the slave registrars had come looking for Lola. Lola had been reported as a runaway. Grillby had been questioned and his house had been searched looking for Lola. June herself had been questioned by the registrars if Grillby had taken Lola away. Such torture she would never wish upon her worst enemy. June knew however that Grillby nor any of the domestic slaves he owned had been party to Lola running away. The registrars had been about to leave when Lola had been found by Doggrel at the edge of Snowdin Town. 

Dogamy had gone to Grillby to say that Lola had been found asking for him. When they saw Lola… let’s just say all who had seen her, hoped that Gaster burned in a special place in hell. If Doggrel had not found Lola when he did… 

June paused. Grillby’s rage had been intense, but his touch had been as gentle as if Lola were the thinnest and most fragile piece of glass ever. The registrars had immediately opened an investigation on Gaster. Lola was at peace however. She had gotten to see her dearest friends one last time before she died.

Grillby refused to let Lola die. June would never know quite what he did, but Grillby had kept Lola’s broken and cracked SOUL from fracturing using his own SOUL. When June had asked him about it later, Grillby would only say that his life was not worth living if Lola was not there to share it with.

June knew at that moment that Lola was Grillby’s SOULmate. Gaster must have guessed that fact at some point and tortured poor Lola in jealousy and spite. Lola’s body and SOUL had been infused with so much magic she could not really be counted as human anymore. The magic had torn Lola’s SOUL. Lola ran away to see her loved ones one final time before her SOUL shattered. When the Royal Guard and the slave registrars had gone to Gaster’s lab to arrest him, there had been a violent explosion. When the flames had been put out and the dust settled, it was learned that Gaster had been experimenting on all his slaves. June had known just by looking at Grillby that death was too good for Gaster in his opinion. 

Gaster’s brother Red was put in charge of Gaster’s remaining estate. Red sold Lola to Grillby at the barely legal price of one gold. Some of the registrars had been shocked at the price. King Asgore ruled that so long as the executor of Gaster’s estate didn’t feel cheated, then he could sell Gaster’s slave at whatever price he chose. Red reminded the registrars that Grillby was paying way more than Lola’s listed price in rehabilitation alone. So long as Grillby did not insist on the estate paying that money, one gold was a fair price because of the rest of the out of pocket costs.

All except one of the slave registrars agreed and let the whole matter slide. They had also failed in their responsibility of checking on the welfare of Gaster’s slaves. Gaster, being the royal scientist, had not had his slaves inspected in five years. The registrars believed him when he made excuses about bring too busy and they really did think that a noble like him was incapable of such crimes.

June did think Gaster was capable. She had heard enough rumors from other slaves in positions similar to hers that Gaster was one way to the public world and something quite different in the enclosure of his lab. When Lola was a small child and visited often, she always said that Gaster was a little distant but never cruel to her. Then again, Lola had also been afraid for her own life, even then. Lola knew that Gaster would kill her without thought if she told anyone what happened behind closed doors.

June sighed and shook her head. That was back in the past. The only thing that mattered was that Lady Lola was coming home. The whole household had missed her. It was as if the light and warmth was returning after a very long winter. June called the rest of the household staff together. Everything needed to be perfect for Lola’s return. Master would never say so directly, but he mourned everyday that Lola was not home. 

The Train

Lola had woken up at the crack of dawn with a headache. She must have slept for a good ten hours to have a headache this bad. She moaned as her head ached. 

“Up, already?” came Grillby’s sleepy voice. 

“What time is it?” Lola’s voice still felt thick with sleep.

“Early, very early.”

“I must have overslept. Now I have a headache.”

Grillby grunted as he sat up and checked the time, “You’ve been asleep since eight thirty. It’s now almost seven. Just about ten hours of sleep.”

“No wonder my head is screaming.”

“Let me massage your head and neck. It should help ease the headache.”

Grillby positioned Lola in front of him. He pulled her into his arms and placed his hands around her neck muscles. Lola was tense. He let the heat from his hands relax the muscles as he began to massage Lola’s neck and shoulders. Her breathing became more relaxed as he worked on her muscles. Lola began to press herself closer to his body. His groin began to respond to Lola’s proximity. His breathing began to get strangled. 

“Grill?” 

Grillby did not trust his voice, “Hmmm…?”

“I think I want more than just a massage from you.”

Grillby choked out a laugh. 

Lola turned in his arms. She was still pressing her body against his. 

Grillby’s sky blue eyes were laughing as Lola began to kiss Grillby. Grillby clutched Lola to him as his hands found their way underneath her nightgown. He could only hope they didn’t make too much noise. In spite of the fact that both Red and Doggrel were both adults, they tended to act in a childish manner at the prospect of Grillby and Lola having sex. Grillby wondered if they should be extra noisy, just to embarrass them.

A couple of hours later, both Lola and Grillby were feeling good. After having morning sex, they had cleaned up and had gotten dressed. They were still a good hour and a half away from Fell City, they ordered breakfast. Lola was giggling as she told Grillby that Red and Doggrel were arguing over whether to disturb them or not. She guessed they had heard herself and Grillby having sex. They had both made some effort at being extra noisy just to embarrass Red and Doggrel. 

As long as she had known them, it still shocked Red and Doggrel that Lola was a married woman. Sex happens. Beside if they thought that was bad, they really would not want to be around at night. Lola knew that Grillby would want even hotter sex that night. It was a way of establishing the fact that the Lord and Lady of the house were home. It renewed both the bonds of their marriage, as well as the mystical bonds of their household itself. Everyone, from their personal servants to the lowest dishwasher would feel unity of the home. 

There was a knock on the door. 

“Are you two dressed?” came the voice of Red. 

Grillby smiled and opened the door. 

“Yes?” asked Grillby. 

Red scowled at Grillby, “The stewards are here to serve breakfast, but they are too embarrassed to knock on your door.”

Lola began to giggle. Apparently she and Grillby had made enough noise to disturb the whole car.

“Come on in.” Grillby spotted the cart with his and Lola’s breakfast. He wheeled it in and began serve himself and Lola. 

“Did you know you woke up the entire car?” said Red accusingly.

Grillby smiled at Red. Red was a lazybones. He was never happy unless he got a minimum of twelve hours of sleep. 

“That doesn’t bother me in the slightest,” said Grillby jauntily. Both Grillby and Lola smiled impishly.

“Come on, let’s eat,” said Lola coaxingly. Red shook his head and with a light laugh joined both Lola and Grillby. Doggrel joined them and they teased each other as they ate and waited for the finish of their train ride back to Fell City. 

There was an announcement. 

“This is your conductor speaking. We have arrived in Fell City. We ask all citizens and residents to please wait until the train has completely stopped before you depart the train. For all non residents and guests, please remain were you are seated. Customs officials will board the train as soon as we have stopped to inspect your papers and visas before you are allowed to disembark from the train. All baggage will be delivered to your homes and hotels this evening. Have a wonderful day and welcome to Fell City.”

Grillby reached into his pocket and pulled out a spectacular jeweled chain and leash. He then clipped it to Lola’s collar. This chain was meant to catch your attention at the status that Lola held. All slaves gave way to Lola. The only slaves who did not were of equal rank. 

As they got off the train and into the station, you could see that the station was divided into two. Where Lola and Grillby were it was clearly for monsters as monsters and human slaves of different sorts walked and chatted as they left the station. As Grillby and Lola left the station, Grillby whispered a brief warning to Lola and with a flash of purple fire they were suddenly standing just outside a large townhouse in Snowdin. 

Lola’s nose was suddenly bombarded with the smells of her home. Outside it was cold and dusty with the smell of snow and various fireplaces. It was comforting in its familiarity. 

Grillby squeezed Lola’s hand gently.

“Welcome home,” he said softly. Grillby’s words were soft, but to Lola his emotions were plain. He was happy that she was home. Grillby hated her living away from him. Never would Grillby allow her to be separated from him again. 

“It’s good to be home, Grillby.” Lola’s voice was equally soft but Lola’s emotions were equally plain. Lola was glad to be home. She hated living away from Grillby as much he hated her being gone. 

Grillby had her live on the surface for her own safety. The problem was that separated, all he did was worry about her since he was not there. As SOULmates, it hurt to be apart for more than a few days. He had come to be with Lola weekly, but lately found that even that was not enough.


	8. The Bar

“Everything is still placed where they have been for the past five years.” murmured Grillby. This was important for Lola to know. Being almost completely blind, for Lola’s safety, nothing could move around without her knowing about it. It prevented accidents from happening simply because something had been moved. 

Grillby kissed Lola’s hand as he guided her inside. 

“Welcome Home!” came the familiar voice of June.

“Is that you, June?” asked Lola.

“Yes, dear,” answered June.

Lola took a few steps and held out her arms. Since Lola could not see, it was important for her to make gestures showing that a hug from June would be welcome. June knew this and closed the distance, giving Lola a welcoming hug. 

Lola had never forgotten June’s many kindnesses to her over the years. Lola may be an alpha caste slave, but June treated Lola like a mother. As Lola’s personal servant, June made sure that Lola ate properly, made sure that Lola dressed well for her station, and was a sounding board when Lola just wanted someone to listen to her. That was just a few of the many things June had done for Lola over the years. 

June bustled both Grillby and Lola into the kitchen. She served them tea and snacks knowing it had not been long since they had last eaten. Lola felt herself completely relax in her own home. As much as she had slept the night before. Lola wanted to nap in her own bed. It was one of those creature comforts that spoke of being home, rather than in a city she didn’t understand and people she did not know.

Grillby smiled. He knew that today would be about rest and relaxation. Lola was home and she would want a few days to adjust to being home. She would go and visit her friends in the next few days. That was important. There had been a few female monsters who had been sniffing around to try and find out if Grillby had divorced Lola. One of the females had been pretty upset when she had found out Grillby had completed a SOULbond with Lola. The woman’s father had been trying to arrange a marriage between the two of them. Nevermind that Grillby didn’t even like the girl, much less be married to her. She was stupid and shrewish. Life would have been hell if he had married her. Lola being home would once again remind other women that Grillby was off the market. Grillby was the Lord of the Manor and Lola was the Lady, even if she was born a slave.

There was a knock on the door.

It was Edge. 

“IS IT TRUE THAT LOLA IS HOME,” asked Papyrus. 

“Hi, Jack,” answered Lola. Lola called him Jack after seeing the Nightmare Before Christmas movie. Lola said that Edge looked just like Jack Skellington. This was after Lola had been sold to Grillby. Edge was one of the people most shocked by Gaster’s madness. Edge took great pains to become friends with Lola after finding out what Gaster had done to her. Lola had learned that underneath Edge’s harsh exterior, Edge had a heart of gold that he took great pains to hide. 

Lola figured being Gaster’s youngest brother, he developed that exterior to protect himself from Gaster through the years. Edge had been the Guardsman officer who had recorded Lola’s evidence of Gaster’s mad cruelty. As he recorded it, he would sometimes have to stop the testimony to go and find a quiet corner to cry in. Red had told her later that Gaster had done some of the cruel things to Edge as a child, that he had done to Lola. Knowing that, it helped them forge their friendship. Hell, Gaster’s death had even managed to broker peace between Sans and Papyrus. Sans still sometimes called Papyrus Boss, but when they fought, they tried not to let it get violent anymore. They were the only family they had anymore. Gaster's death reminded them that in spite of it all, they were still brothers and they still loved each other. Even if they tried to hide it. 

“LOLA!” Papyrus entered the home and ran to his old friend. They embraced each other fondly and kissed each others cheeks. 

“WELL LOLA, ARE YOU READY TO PARTY?”

“Party?” queried both Lola and Grillby at once.

“JUST A SMALL GET TOGETHER. JUST THE VILLAGERS WHO WANT TO WELCOME LOLA HOME AND WISH HER A HAPPY BIRTHDAY.”

Grillby let out a soft sigh. As much as he wanted to be home alone with Lola, he should have known that the villagers of Snowdin would want to welcome her home. Lola’s birthday was just an excuse to have a party.

“Jack, there is really no...” protested Lola.

“No, Lo. It’s okay. The sooner the villagers see you home, the sooner we will be allowed to settle back home,” Grillby interjected.

“Are you sure?” asked Lola.

“Not at all, but it would be good for the villagers to see you.”

“WONDERFUL,” said Edge. “I SHALL TELL THE TOWNSFOLK TO BE AT THE BAR IN ONE HOUR.”

With that Papyrus walked out of Grillby and Lola’s home, excited to throw a party for Lola.

Lola sighed, “I really just want to be home.”

Grillby smiled, “I know. The sooner you go and see the villagers the sooner they will leave us alone, though. It’s not just Sans and Papyrus that want to see you.”

“No rest for the weary.”

“Home is the last place to get rest,” chuckled Grillby. 

“Any gossip I need to worry about?”

“Just a few girls who are hoping you and I have divorced.”

“Fajro still hoping?”

“You know she won’t quit. Not until her father manages to marry her off.”

“I just hope she doesn’t do something stupid.”

“Don’t worry she will. When she does, hopefully her father will finally lay down the law on her before Edge or Undyne do.”

“Letting Undyne lay down the law might actually give her the swift kick in the ass she needs. Her father never does.”

One hour later Lola and Grillby gracefully walked into Grillby’s original bar and grill. They were greeted with whoops and shouts as they came inside. The Dog Pack squad of the Royal Guard greeted Lola and Grillby first. Dogaressa translated for lesser Dog saying that with Doggrel and his training, his daughter Dogette would be a great guide dog and watch dog. 

She greeted her friends as she walked to a place at the bar that was permanently reserved for Lola. Grillby had even had a notice laminated and covered with glass on her spot. More than a few females tried to sit at Lola’s spot in the years after Grillby permanently reserved it. Anyone who wasn’t Lola or didn’t have Lola’s permission to sit there was immediately thrown out into the snows of Snowdin Town for disrespecting Lola. 

The sign read:

THIS SEAT IS PERMANENTLY RESERVED FOR LOLA COXOP-PYRESON.

ALL VIOLATORS WILL BE THROWN OUT 

ANYONE WHO SITS HERE WITHOUT PERMISSION FROM LOLA WILL BE THROWN OUT

NO EXCUSES TOLERATED, EVEN AT BUSY TIMES

DON’T EVEN BOTHER LYING TO THE BARTENDER PRETENDING TO BE LOLA

LOLA IS GRILLBY’S WIFE – WE ALL KNOW HER

\--- BY ORDER OF GRILLBY PYRESON.

The bartender was a blue bunny that Grillby had trained since he was a teen named Sherbet. Sherbet had also known Lola for a long time and promptly got her a cup of tea. One of the reasons Grillby was so adamant about Lola’s permanent seat was ensure that no one moved things around Lola’s seat. Lola’s seat actually had more space than other seats to allow for things to placed in a precise manner for her blindness. Thus, when Sherbet placed the tea in front of Lola, she knew exactly where it was. As the party got going and Lola ate dinner she knew where the plate and the utensils were. Strangers sitting in her seat had a tendency to want to move things around. Some sat in her seat just to be asses. Whoever was bartending whether it was Sherbet or Grillby, gave the violator one warning. If they disobeyed, or tried to claim that they were Lola, they were picked up from the seat and tossed out of the bar into the snow. Zero tolerance. 

When Lola allowed for people to sit in her seat, that person knew the importance of not moving things. So if there was anyone there besides Lola they were a good friend of hers. 

About a week after Grillby had Lola move to the surface, a female fire elemental named Fajro tried to sit in Lola’s seat. She was claiming that Grillby was divorcing Lola and that she was going to be Grillby’s next wife. Sherbet had never seen Grillby so angry. Fajro was lucky that her father was a Flame Lord. If she had an ounce less of status Grillby would have killed her for the insult to Lola. Fajro, never having married nor having found her SOULmate, had no idea how painful it was for Grillby to send Lola to the surface. Sherbet knew that Grillby worried and in a way grieved for Lola every day that she was not with him. 

When Grillby threw Fajro out of his bar, Fajro lied to her father and said that Grillby had insulted her. He had come to the bar to make Grillby pay for the insult to Fajro. When he learned the truth that Fajro had insulted Grillby and his wife, he warned his daughter to stay away from Grillby. Fajro didn’t listen, but she never again sat in Lola’s seat. Other women tried to sit in Lola’s seat and they also found themselves swiftly booted from the bar. Grillby didn’t know what part of ‘I’m married’ these women didn’t understand. Lola joked that such a handsome man could well be married, but he had to have a few side chicks. Grillby laughed and said maybe before he met her, but certainly not afterwards.

The party had finally broken up at about eight at night. Both Lola and Grillby had been surprised at the number of people who came to welcome Lola home. Sherbet and Grillby had been surprised at the sales they had gotten that night. Grillby was messing around with the jukebox in the corner. As much as most people thought it was broken, it wasn’t really. Grillby had gotten tired of people complaining about changing the music in it and simply disconnected it. True he could have gotten one of the newer internet jukeboxes, but there was a beauty to this older one. He liked the warmer sounds coming from records more. He selected several songs. 

He went to Lola and bowed. 

“May I have this dance?” Grillby kissed Lola’s hand.

Lola giggled and smiled. “Yes, you may.”

“Put Your Head On My Shoulder” began to play. Grillby swept Lola up into his arms and began to dance with her. Lola wrapped her arm around his waist and lay her cheek on his shoulder. They relaxed and moved together in the bar. Neither had ever forgotten how a simple moonlight filled night had changed their lives forever. They were shut out of the world of the bar. “Nights in White Satin” began to play. Grillby began to kiss Lola. Their hold on each other began to get tighter. They didn’t say a word to each other. There was a sudden flash of fire and they were gone. 

There was a soft sigh. One of the girls who tried to flirt with Grillby sat at a booth. “I guess there is just no way to compete,” she said. She was a cream colored bunny monster and Sherbet’s little sister.

Sherbet smiled at his sister, Sweetpea. “Sorry, Sweets, I’ve tried to tell you that for the past year. Grillby is very married.” 

Sweetpea smiled maliciously, “I can’t wait to see the look on Fajro’s face when she finds out Lola is home.”

Sherbet smiled. As much as Sweetpea had a crush on Grillby, she didn’t carry it to the extreme that Fajro did. The news that Lola was home would hit her like a ton of bricks. Serves her right, in Sherbet’s opinion. Sweetpea’s crush was very innocent. It was the crush of a growing girl to a good looking man. Fajro--- well she was damn near obsessive about Grillby. She was cruel to Sweetpea and any other girl who cast an admiring look at Grillby. Lola was different though. Lola made Fajro feel stupid and ugly. Sherbet always said that Lola made people feel like they really were.

Whatever Gaster had done to Lola, one thing is for sure, he gave her a very subtle power. He gave Lola he the ability to let people feel who they truly were. In Fell City that was no small gift.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been too long since I have updated this. I have quite a bit written out that I haven't put out. Enjoy! In case you are interested I also have a Final Fantasy VI fanfic that I am also putting out. I'm even further ahead on that one than this one. As always comments and feedback welcome.


	9. Flowers

It was very early in the morning. Grillby had gotten up early to retreat into the small greenhouse he kept behind his house. When Gaster refused to allow him any access to Lola he found that growing flowers was a good way to pass time when he missed Lola. He had not acknowledged that Lola had stolen his heart yet, but he found cultivating and caring for flowers gave him a means to lavish care on a precious thing. One thing that Gaster didn’t know was that after a while Grillby found a way to sneak the flowers he grew to Lola. This was why Lola was perfectly satisfied if he had given her only flowers for her birthday. 

When Lola had been so fearful of Gaster seeing them dance, it scared him. He went by Gaster’s house many times trying to see if he could get a moment or two alone with her. Gaster’s security had been too good to get her alone. However, he had seen that Lola’s room had a window ledge. He would leave her small bouquets of morning glories, out of affection- lily of the valley, for purity- and lavender, for devotion. Grillby might not have been able to speak to Lola with words, but he could in the language of flowers. These would let her know he was still her devoted friend. 

After Gaster blew up his lab, it had been discovered that Lola kept every single flower Grillby had ever given her. She would put the flowers in a black bag that she kept hidden underneath her bed. When Lola was able to gather her things it was the only thing she had kept from Gaster’s house. The flowers had been little points of light in an increasingly dark world. 

Grillby put on a pair of gardening gloves and grabbed clippers. He began to tend the flowers in his garden. Seeing to the flowers in his garden did not take up much time. Before long, he had watered and saw to the needs of the flowers. Grillby decided to make a bouquet for Lola. She still prized each and every flower he gave her. He placed fern, pink morning glories, red roses and lavender. This arrangement spoke of continued love, affection, and devotion for his wife. When the flowers would begin to wilt she would put them in a warm box to dry. Lola used these flowers to make sachets to put in her clothing. Lola never threw away any flower that Grillby had ever given her. 

Grillby pulled out an empty vase and placed a block of floral foam inside of it. The foam would provide nutrients to the flowers as well as prevent the flowers from drowning in too much water. He then carefully poured water over the foam to ensure it was well moisturized. He then made a beautiful arrangement with the flowers he had just cut. Observing the flowers he went back into the garden and cut a few sprigs of lily of the valley. It would add some contrasting white as well as gentle fragrance to the arrangement. 

He picked up the vase and headed back into the house. As he walked in he heard June fussing at Lola. 

“Lola, it’s unseemly to me to let you cook breakfast.”

“June, you already do so much for me. Making breakfast is just a small way to pay you back for all you do.”

“It’s not proper for a lady to cook for her servants. We are supposed to do that for you.”

“June...”

“June, nothing. Go sit down. As soon as Master is done puttering in his garden, I’ll serve the tea. It wont take me long to have breakfast ready.”

Grillby frowned in thought. One of the good things that happened to Lola on the surface was that she had gained more independence. She had gotten used to having to do things for herself. She was going to have to re-adjust to having servants again. 

Still, Grillby thought, Lola needed that independence. He would have to talk to June later about letting Lola do a few things around the house. 

He closed the door behind him firmly, to let both June and Lola know he was out of the garden. 

“Grill, June won’t let me fix breakfast for her,” complained Lola.

“Tell this creature that it is unseemly for a Lady to cook for her servants,” came June’s complaint. 

“I just walked in the door and now all I hear are complaints?” he asked dryly.

“Sorry, Grill...”

“It’s improper,” howled June.

“LADIES!”

Both Lola and June went silent. Grillby walked into the kitchen area where both Lola and June were. He held the vase of flowers out to Lola. 

“Please, just let’s get through breakfast. I brought these flowers for you, Lo. June, next time Lola wants to cook for you, let her. It’s better than arguing about what is and isn’t proper.”

June pursed her lips and nodded at Grillby. Her silence said louder than words that she disapproved. 

Grillby placed the vase of flowers into Lola’s hands. Lola smiled and began to inhale the fragrances of the flowers he cut for her. Really, when he thought about, learning to cultivate flowers taught him about caring for Lola. With love and some guidance she bloomed into a beautiful rose. Gardening was a good primer for marriage. Sometimes it was difficult, but the work was always worth the effort. 

Lola sat down placing the vase in front of her. She settled down while June began to serve tea and toast while they waited for the main meal. Lola had just wanted June to know that she appreciated all she did. June didn’t look at things that way though. Hell, thought Lola, she refused Grillby's many attempts to get her to retire. June always said the house would fall apart if she were not there to run it. 

June grumbled while she prepared breakfast for Lola and Grillby. Grillby just shook his head at Lola. It was no use trying to convince June otherwise. June thought that someone of Lola’s station should not be in the kitchen or doing any of the domestic work. 

There was a knock on the door as they finished breakfast. Grillby’s manservant got the door. 

“Doggrel and Dogette to see you, my Lady,” he announced. 

“I’ll see them in the parlor,” said Lola. 

The parlor was a small room that Lola used when she had guests requesting to see her. It was comfortably but not formally furnished. Guests would snack on tea and snacks while engaging in small talk.

“They’re early,” commented Grillby. 

“Must be important, or something that will take up a lot of time to be this early,” replied Lola. 

“Since Dogette is with Doggrel, it probably has to do with training her as your guide dog.”

“I’m not even dressed yet.”

“Find out what they want and then get dressed. That way you can dress more appropriately.”

Lola nodded got up and walked to her parlor. She walked in with minimal assistance. 

“What are you two doing here so early?” commented Lola.

“We need to talk about my training of Dogette here as your guide dog,” answered Doggrel. “We have gotten to the point were you two need to be training together. This way you learn how to give Dogette commands and Dogette learns about intelligent disobedience, if need be.”

“Intelligent disobedience?” asked Lola.

“Really, it’s more like holding you back from walking out into traffic,” explained Doggrel. “It’s her sight seeing what you can’t. You might be able to hear cars on a busy road, but Dogette knows for sure if it’s safe to cross. If you command her to cross the road, but it isn’t safe, that’s a form of disobedience. Holding you back until it is safe to cross, that’s intelligent disobedience.”

“I see. So, when do you want to start?” asked Lola. 

“Today. The sooner we start the sooner Dogette can be trained. Training guides and handlers takes about two months. That way you can have a guard with you when Grillbz and I cannot be there.”

“Okay,” said Lola.

“Awesome, Lo. Let’s meet up in the bar in an hour. Be dressed for being in the snow for a while. Use light gloves though. You will need to be able to feel the harness and thick gloves will make that difficult.”


	10. The Ruins

One hour later, Lola was dressed in layers of clothing. Grillby helped her put on a pair of snow boots as they prepared for the snows of Snowdin. As they left their home for the bar they were greeted by the townsfolk as they walked. Red was sitting at his usual spot as they walked in. Both Doggrel and Dogette were already waiting. 

“Alright Lo, let’s get started. First I am going to guide you through putting Dogette into the harness. This is something that you are going to have to do everyday from now on. We will practice until you can do this repeatedly without correction.”

Being that in bright light, Lola had limited vision, Doggrel put a blindfold on Lola so that she could place the harness with no sight. Lola was almost totally blind in the dark and practicing under sightless conditions would better prepare her for that. 

After a couple of hours of practice, Doggrel was satisfied that Lola could correctly put the harness on Dogette.

“Now that I am satisfied that you can place the harness on Dogette, we will now go for a walk in the village. Be ready Lola, things in your house don’t move around to accommodate you for your blindness. In the town and the rest of the world things move quite frequently. As a beginning exercise we are going to walk down the main street. That way you are familiar with it’s layout. However, this being a real world exercise, things may not be quite where you think they should be. This way you learn to give commands to Dogette, but she can use her own judgment on safety,” finished Doggrel. 

Doggrel began to give Lola basic commands to give to Dogette. Both Dogette and Lola began to learn to trust each others movements and judgment as they walked up and down the main street of town. Some of the townsfolk began to watch them as they walked in the village. It was good to see Lola trying to gain more independence. 

After an hour of these exercises, they were joined by a couple of the village children. 

“Lola, can we please pet the doggie?” asked several of the children. 

Doggrel explained to Lola the importance of explaining to the kids that Dogette was currently working, but that when she was not in the harness, she was free to play with them all they wanted. It’s the difference between a pet and a working dog. 

After another half hour, Doggrel decided that was enough for the first day. They went back to the bar. Lola took off the harness as she had been taught and Sherbet got Dogette and Doggrel a steak as a reward for a good day’s work. 

Lola sat in her reserved seat and Sherbet got her some tea and told her lunch would be served in just a minute. Lola took off some of the excess wrappings as she began to warm up. 

“Sherbet? Where’s Grill?,” asked Lola.

“Seeing that you were busy, he went to take care of some minor business in the city,” replied Sherbet. “He should be back any moment.”

Red had been in the town watching Lola work with Dogette. He came back inside and sat with Lola. 

“Hey, Lo. Some of the kids are asking if you would join them in a snowball fight.”

“I hope they don’t get mad when I can’t throw a snowball well,” said Lola. 

“Nah, just for some laughs since school is out.”

“I’ll be out right after I get some lunch,” promised Lola. It sounded like fun.

“That’s fine they are gathering snow for forts and to make the snowballs with.”

Sherbet returned with Lola’s lunch. It was a simple meal of soup and a sandwich. Perfect for both warming and fueling up. Lola ate her lunch while Red drank his mustard. 

As she finished her lunch she began to put back on the heavier clothing for being out in the snow. Red went back outside to prepare the kids for Lola joining them. It would be a fun afternoon and would keep Lola busy until Grillby came back from his business meeting. It was a simple debt collection from a client, but Lola always worried about Grillby when he went to these meetings. 

Red was in many ways glad he wasn’t married. As lonely as he could get sometimes, he wasn’t certain he could handle the worry that both Grillby and Lola had for each other. Grillby always said that when you met your SOULmate you would always worry when you were not together. It sounded too much like work for Red’s taste.

One hour later, Grillby came home. He observed Lola and the town children playing in the snow. Grillby remembered that on a day not unlike today, when Lola was almost sixteen, he had realized he was in love with her. The village children had all come to the bar and begged Lola to come and play in the snow. Lola could see decently with her glasses at the time, so she had enthusiastically joined in the fun. Her flashing eyes and her cheeks made rosy by the cold just made her all the more beautiful. He was stunned by her. When she noticed he was watching, her smile bowled him over. As he stood there in front of his bar watching her and the children play he found that Red had joined him.

“She only ever smiles that way when you are around.” Red commented.

“Smile?” Grillby was trying to get his thoughts together. 

“A real smile. The kind a woman only gives to the man she loves.”

“What makes you think she loves me?”

“And you say that Lola is blind.”

“Sans, I am not in the mood for one of your word games.”

“Fine, I will leave you, then. Just let me say this, even then Gaster knew you were in love with her.”

Grillby spun to face Sans, but he had disappeared.

Grillby scowled at where Sans had just stood and turned his attention back onto Lola. 

Lola walked over to Grillby.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing really, just Red being Red.”

Lola observed him through her glasses. “If you say so.”

“It was just Sans and his word games.”

“No, it’s more than that. But, whatever. If you don’t want to talk, fine.”

“It was just a comment he made about you,” Grillby began to feel defensive. 

“Fine. It’s not like I don’t hear plenty of comments already. Ignore them. I do. It makes life easier.” Lola turned her back on him and started to walk home. 

Grillby stared at the retreating Lola at a loss for words. He followed her back into their home. Lola was in the mudroom removing her snow encrusted coat and outer clothing.

“What comments, Lola?”

“Huh?”

“You just said that people have been making comments. Are they about you or me?” 

“Me mostly. I just ignore it. It’s people just being stupid and a little jealous.”

“I want an answer, Lola. I want to know what people say about you.”

“First, let me just say, it’s not from the folks around town that actually know me.”

“Are they coming from that school?”

“Yes.”

“What comments,” Grillby pressed.

“It’s mostly name calling, like, Bargain Bin Lola or sometimes Layaway Lola. Stupid shit. It’s nothing to get worked up over. I ignore it.”

“Do you feel like you belong in some bargain bin or that I bought you on layaway?”

“Grillby, I told you it was stupid. You have been my best friend since I was five. You have shown me some incredible things. You have taught me so much. You cared when no one else did. No, I don’t feel like a bargain bin item. Sometimes I think you have paid too much for me.” Lola shook her head. “I’m going to bed. I’m tired. This whole conversation is tiring.” Lola again turned away towards her bedroom.

“Lola, stop, please.”

Lola stopped. Her back was to Grillby.

“Does it hurt, when people make those comments?”

“It did at first, but I have had of lifetime of being hurt. I’m used to it.”

Lola walked away.

“Lola-”

Lola ignored Grillby. She walked into her bedroom and firmly closed the door behind her. 

Grillby walked up to the door and knocked. Hard.

“Go away.”

“I want to talk to you.”

“Leave me alone!”

Frustrated Grillby yelled, “Fine! Have it your way! Stay in your room! I still expect you to come to dinner on time, Lola!” He sauntered his way from Lola’s room. 

Grillby put on his gardening gloves and went to his greenhouse. He would at least be able to vent his frustration in peace. As much as Lola loved flowers, too many floral smells gave her the sneezes, so she avoided his garden. He managed to calm down while his worries nagged him. The door opened. 

It was June. 

“You didn’t know, did you?” June asked. 

“That Lola was going through a rough patch? No, I didn’t. I guess that’s what makes me angry. That Lola didn’t tell me. That she didn’t trust me enough.”

“Trust has nothing to do with it. Lola thinks the world of you. She thinks you have done more than enough for her. Lola doesn’t want you to worry about her.”

“Why?”

“Lola is at a point in her life where she does not want you to see her as weak and helpless.”

“But she isn’t weak or helpless. Lola has managed to live in spite of the odds of her dying.”

“If you had known what has been going on in that school, what would you have done? Would you let Lola try to handle it? Would you have come in as the gallant knight again?”

“Knight?”

“You always do that, Grillby. You have always been Lola’s knight in shining armor. I guess that’s part of being SOULmates. It’s that instinct to protect your mate.”

“SOULmates?”

“You haven’t even admitted that to yourself, have you Grillby? You are so quick to defend and fight for Lola, but you don’t even know why you do these things. That’s part of what is painful to Lola. You are always hiding and burying your feelings for her.” 

“She’s only fifteen.”

“But Lola is almost an adult, isn’t she? You, as her owner, are expected to lie with her on her adulthood ceremony and take her maidenhead. She’s nervous. Lola loves you, but you haven’t been honest with her about your feelings. You haven’t even been honest with yourself.” 

Grillby wasn’t paying attention to June. From his greenhouse he could see the window in Lola’s room. He saw the window open and Lola sneak out through the window. Anger filled him as Lola walked off into the forest surrounding Snowdin town. 

June saw Lola leave the house. Grillby was starting to heat up in anger. She placed a restraining hand on him. 

“Easy. Lola isn’t going to be gone for long. She only brought her jacket. I think she just wants to be alone to think,” said June. 

Grillby took a cleansing breath. He took off his gloves and left the greenhouse. He put on his leather jacket and heavier snow boots. When he walked outside, Lola was out of sight but her footprints in the snow were plain. He began to follow her footprints. 

As Grillby walked, he began to calm down. Lola’s footprint were heading in the direction of the Ruins. Grillby frowned. There were rumors of a mad woman there. Whenever he went near the Ruins he always had to be careful not to run into her. Crazy people did strange things. 

Grillby continued to follow Lola into the Ruins. Her path was surefooted. As if Lola had been there many times in the past. Grillby then realized that they were near the cavern that he had taken her to see the stars. Lola sat on a slab of marble as she gazed out into the sky. It was dusk. You could see both the sunset and the stars as they came out. Grillby pulled his hood over his face to hide his firelight.

Lola smiled as the sun set and the stars brightened. Grillby then realized that she was happy. Almost as happy as when he first brought her here. In the setting sun he realized she was almost an adult. Lola was beautiful in the light of the setting sun. Grillby felt his SOUL respond to Lola. He loved her. All of her. He remembered how happy they had been stargazing together. His hatred of her fear of Gaster. 

There was the sound of footsteps approaching. Lola turned her head towards that sound. Her smile became friendly. As if she knew who was approaching. Lola stood up as a goat monster approached her. 

“Lola! It is so good to see you here tonight,” said the goat monster. 

“Toriel! It’s good to see you too!”

Grillby was floored at the name of Toriel. Toriel was the exiled Queen of Fell City.

“Did you come to stargaze again?”

“It’s one of my best memories. And this is my favorite place to stargaze.”

“I remember that. But you usually only come here when you are upset.”

“It’s silly.”

Toriel gave Lola a motherly hug. “Being upset isn’t silly.” 

“I got mad at Grillby earlier. I told him about some of the comments those kids make at school. I think he got angry that I didn’t tell him about it earlier.”

“Why didn’t you tell Grillby?” queried Toriel.

“Grillby always wants to try to fix things for me. It’s sweet, but he can’t always do that for me. I need to handle those girls on my own.”

“It’s his protective instincts, Lola. The majority of SOULmates are much older when they first meet, so they learn to handle the real world and adjust to the world accordingly. You are very different. You have known Grillby a long time. You have also had a traumatic childhood. Those things send your partner’s instincts into overdrive. He will always be highly protective of you. He knows you like no one else does. He will never like even so minor a secret as being bullied.”

Lola hugged Toriel again, “Thank you.” 

“Now, do you think we should invite Grillby here since he has been watching us the whole time?”

“Yeah I guess we should.”

Grillby began to blush. He should have known Toriel already knew he was here. He left the pillar he had been hiding behind and entered the cavern.

Toriel’s eyes were laughing at him. Her eyes were kind and sharp, but you got the sense she wasn’t quite sane. Nothing violent, nothing dangerous. Just a vague sense of not being all there. A never ending sense of grief.

Grillby approached Lola and Toriel. 

Lola stepped in, “Grillby, I don’t know if you have been introduced, but this is Toriel the caretaker of the Ruins. Toriel, this is Grillby, my owner among several other things.”

Toriel’s eyes flared a bit at the word owner, but she held out her hand in introduction. 

“A pleasure to finally meet you, Grillby.”

“The pleasure is mine, my queen.”

Toriel’s eyes brightened. “You know who I am?”

Grillby bowed to Toriel, “Yes, your Majesty.”

Toriel shook her head violently, “No. I am no longer your queen. I abandoned my post as Queen when Asgore decided that peace is a sham and that humans deserved to be ruled and killed by monsters strength.”

Toriel’s eyes filled with tears.”Excuse me. I must see to my children. Come back another time. I want to talk to you both about marriage.” Her eyes were as big as plates as she left both Lola and Grillby.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Toriel in my story isn't quite the same Toriel in classic Underfell. Toriel going mad is one thing. Killing chldren though... It just doesn't fit Tori at all even in Underfell. At least in my opinion.


End file.
